Kirigakure's Shore
by Jonohex
Summary: Haku is content with his new home in the Land of Waves. But when a ninja clan thought long dead reemerges intent on destroying the Hidden Mist Village, Zabuza's former apprentice must consider a return to his former life. Sequel to 'The Broken Tool'.
1. Mission to Konohagakure Part 1

**Kirigakure's Shore -- Introduction **

Hi, thanks for visiting. This fic is a sequel to The Broken Tool, but you're not going to be lost (other than a few details) if this is the story you start with. For cast and characters, the main protagonist is Haku, who survived the end of the Wave Country arc from the manga/anime. A number of canon characters will be involved too along with OCs from The Broken Tool as well as some new ones.

Again, I'd like to thank everyone who supported me, reviewed, faved and C2ed my earlier stories.

For Kirigakure's Shore, I try to stick pretty close to the manga/anime though I'm going to stray from it when I want to or when I don't know any better. Um, just being honest. I'm a Naruto fan, but no PhD. Just to warn you before you get too far into this, I have MANY stylistic weaknesses like being too wordy, getting carried away with commas, picking story subjects that only a very few people are interested in, posting chapters that are way too long, overdone plots and fight scenes. I'll try to control myself a little better this time, but no promises...especially with the fight scenes ;). Also, I'm not into using the Japanese honorifics, with the 'san', 'sama', 'chan', and all that, or clan name first, given name second, that I've noticed most Naruto fanfiction authors follow. So I hope that doesn't bother you too much either.

This story takes place after the Sasuke-retrieval arc and before the time-skip, and is going to be broken into a series of multi-chapter parts which I'll update here in the forward and in my profile as it goes along. Of course, if you LIKE surprises then skip down to where the story starts!

**Part 1, Mission to Konoha** -- Haku, now a constable in the Land of Waves, is dispatched to the Hidden Leaf Village to return some very disturbing stolen property. Though the unplanned trip gives him the opportunity to reconcile with Sakura and Kakashi, the former Demon's Apprentice finds himself the target for a group of ninja intent on killing him. If Kiba, who's been assigned by the Hokage to protect him, fails, then the genin's career as a leaf-ninja is over.

**Part 2, Snow Angels** -- An artifact left at Haku's grave leads the young ninja in a search for the secrets to his ancestry. Wave Country's building boom continues apace, but what exactly is it becoming? Inari and Chuuya continue their training, meanwhile Naruto discovers that Haku is alive.

**Part 3, Complicated Shadows** -- While a powerful ninja lord from Kirigakure visits The Land of Waves, the patriarchs of Water Country's bloodline clans search out Haku.

**Part 4, The Jinchuuriki's Mandate** -- Haku and Naruto are on a journey to stop the Hidden Mist Village from being destroyed. But vengeful ninjas possessing forgotten powers turn out to be the least of what the two must face as present-day ambitions collide with Kirigakure's dark past.

Sorry for so much disclaimer/explanation and set-up. Having said all that, I hope you like this fic. Thanks!

--Jonohex

* * *

**Kirigakure's Shore**

By Jonohex

**Haku**

Birds sang and a soft breeze whispered through the trees as the solitary figure made his way unhurriedly along the Fire Country road. It had been quite a long walk from the coast, a passage of several days, yet the traveler was not at all tired.

A curious wren alighted on the slender, black-haired teenager's shoulder at which he smiled then spared his winged visitor a warm glance with expressive, grey eyes. He always had had a way with animals. They seemed to recognize his gentle spirit which was so often at odds with his avocation and the implications of the uniform he now wore – the sea-blue fatigues, grey, high-collared armored jacket, and the hitai-ate of a shinobi from the Village Hidden in the Mist. The one distinction in the young man's apparel was the singular patch worn on his right shoulder, a stylized wave modeled after Hokusai's painting 'The Great Wave off Kanagawa,' that indicated he was part of the Mist's forces occupying neighboring Wave Country.

Not that he really was anyway, a mist-ninja. He'd never attended Kirigakure's Martial School, let alone graduated…although his master, the man who'd trained him, Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist and one of the Seven Legendary Shinobi Swordsmen, had been preeminent among its graduates.

_This is a bad sign,_ mused Haku, who stopped, adjusted the shoulder strap on the satchel he carried then drew a sip of water from his canteen. _Here I am, deep into the Land of Fire's interior, plainly a ninja from a rival country's village, and yet no leaf-shinobi has even showed up to question me._

Haku had heard reports that the Hidden Leaf Village had been attacked by the combined forces of the Sound and Sand Villages. But being that the stories passed between the sailors, traders and travelers through Wave Country tended to be rich in drama but highly-questionable as far as accuracy, the ninja had had to patiently sort through the exaggerations, fabrications and fish-tales until he eventually came to understand (much to his relief) that the invasion had been repelled.

This lack of sentries however, bothered him, reviving fears that Konohagakure no Sato had been hurt much worse than the rumors indicated.

Far worse for Haku than the Hidden Leaf Village's being visited by war, burned the idea that Naruto and the others had been hurt or maybe had not even survived.

_Careful,_ Haku warned himself. _You have a mission to fulfill. And you KNOW how bad things can get when you let your personal feelings interfere._

He frowned and looked again down at his satchel then sighed, contemplating its baleful contents.

_Maybe it's not the Leaf's fault,_ the ninja offered himself half-heartedly. _The world is a dangerous place and Konoha has many enemies, as the Sound and Sand's attack proves. And after all, you can hardly blame THEM for not measuring up to YOUR childish standards._

Naiveté, Zabuza's sole apprentice knew from painful experience, was his weakness – a flaw he always seemed to run into. Like the proverbial brick wall, it hurt every time and there was no getting used to it.

Remembering that and resigning himself to this mission's completion, Haku thought back to the conversation that had sent him here of all places…alone on the road to the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

* * *

"Do you remember," Haku's superior, the Lady Magistrate, Orimi Hirai, ventured obliquely once the paneled doors to her office were closed, "that Yotsu gang cell you and your team took down?"

The young ninja gave the woman a blank look. It was two days ago, he wondered, of course he remembered.

Lady Hirai, arrayed in her exquisite magisterial robes and tasseled cap, awaited a response from where she sat behind her desk, smiling tightly with hands steepled. Just before her rested two sleek canisters, each about the size of a sugar-shaker, one black and one white. Far from being the normal sort of contraband you'd expect from a group of smugglers, these artifacts exuded the disquieting and exotic technologies found only in the Land of Snow.

"Yes, ma'am," answered Haku cautiously, knowing the mist-ANBU would get around to saying what she had to say in due course.

"I finished questioning the Yotsu under-boss, Fong. You'll never guess what he had to say about these."

Haku's brow furrowed. He was in the Magistrate's offices alone for this consultation, which was unusual. The woman was, of course, well aware of Haku's true identity, his training under Zabuza and even his kekkei-genkai. Being that her last assignment was to track down and kill him, she knew his abilities better probably than anyone.

"You're right," the young ninja admitted, suppressing agitation. "I doubt I could."

Orimi told him then in a few terse sentences.

Immediately, Haku's expression tensed and he turned away, feeling sick, sad, even a little betrayed.

"Heh!" his boss chortled, utterly without sympathy, then laid it on in a voice thick with sarcasm: "Oh, I'm so sorry, _Constable Okame_. Did you think Konohagakure no Sato was ABOVE such things; that only bad, evil and wicked Villages like Kirigakure would ever stoop to such a _loathsome and despicable level?"_

Haku straightened, stung by her cruel tone, drew a breath and did his best to compose himself. "I…apologize for my reaction, Lady Hirai," he said and bowed to her. "It was unprofessional."

Orimi stared at him then waved it off. "Forget it," she offered dismissively, then resumed, "So, tell me what you think we should do."

The constable struggled for a moment, still reeling from her revelation. "W-well," he began in a shaky voice. "Protocol dictates that you pass these…materials, up the chain of command. As unusual as this --." Haku stopped as he saw the Magistrate raise her hand and look away with a sour expression on her face.

"If I wanted a by-the-book answer I wouldn't have asked YOU, Haku," Lady Hirai informed him. "I've got a whole squad of mist-chunin who could have told me that only they wouldn't have had to tell me that because I already f-cking KNOW that!" The woman sniffed, put her hands on her desk then reiterated: "now, what do you REALLY think?"

Haku closed his eyes, only now apprehending the strain the arrival of such unpleasantness was taking on Orimi who'd only been Magistrate of Wave Country for a few months. Being good at her job was a matter of intense pride for her and considering the favors she'd done for him, like telling Kirigakure he was dead, Haku felt that his best advice was the very least he could give her in return.

The young constable shifted uneasily as he glanced again toward the canisters. Just the sight of them made him queasy. "Putting something like this in the Mizukage's hands would be disastrous," he assessed bluntly. "Given the ninja lord's present state of mind, there's no telling how he would react."

"Go on."

"Keeping them here, likewise, is impossible. Inevitably, they will be discovered."

Orimi nodded gravely. "That's what I thought. I think we should destroy the canisters and pretend we never saw them."

Haku shook his head. "No, my Lady, that won't be enough."

The woman eyed her underling curiously.

"I think we need to return them."

"What?!" the Magistrate gasped. "You've GOTTA be kidding, right?" She stared again at Haku who'd learned his lesson and waited this time with soldier-like discipline. "Ok," granted Orimi, "go on and explain."

"The Hidden Leaf Village's ANBU will undoubtedly track whoever stole these materials from them in the first place, to the Yotsu gang, to here. The Yotsus are smart, but since WE were able to discover them it's plain that they're not THAT smart." Haku paused then to let his words catch up with his thoughts. "If we keep the canisters, I think it's safe to assume that the Leaf ANBU will go to extraordinary lengths to get them back. Even if we did destroy them it's unlikely their ninja will believe them to be destroyed. In fact, quite the opposite: they would be compelled to assume the worst."

Haku's eyes shifted toward the bay window with its view of the sunlit Great Naruto Bridge beyond, then to the small alter that hung on the wall with its smoldering incense and framed photograph of a familiar, heavy-set ninja wearing black, thick-framed glasses. "I think probably they would attempt to capture you, me, Daigo, Chizuzu, Utako, Under-boss Fong, and everyone else who might know anything and subject us to the most effective and intense forms of interrogation they possessed." The ninja's eyes flickered, knowing that Orimi, an ANBU herself, would have conducted just such a response. "We could fight them, of course, but...," he let the words trail away. Both knew the perils associated with such a strategy.

Lady Hirai nodded. "Yes, I see," she allowed, then followed Haku's line of thought, "but if, as you suggest, we returned their stolen property then they'll know for sure and won't have any reason to pursue action against us." Her dark eyes looked up piercingly from her round face. "They'll also know that their 'little secret's' out."

The young ninja shut his eyes and tried to mitigate his disgust. "That part can't be helped."

The woman frowned. "And what about the Mizukage?" she asked with an absent gesture. "He's bound to learn of this."

Haku worried his lip and thought for a moment. "Put it in your report to him that the canisters were damaged in the raid and their contents spoiled. Having no conclusive physical evidence and only the statements of a criminal to support the idea that Konoha has violated the treaty between Elemental Countries, you then ordered what was left returned to the Hidden Leaf Village to gage their reaction. This was also a pretext to gather first hand intelligence on conditions within the Village since the Sand and Sound's attack."

The kunoichi grinned at Haku's free-balling then broke out in dubious laughter. "That's some serious bullsh-t." Her expression flickered shrewdly. "I'm not sure I'd believe that if I was the Mizukage."

"It's risky," conceded Haku. "But the way I figure it, it's better if the ninja lord doubts your judgment rather than your trustworthiness. If he thought you'd lied, he'd certainly have you killed." _Like if he found out that I'm still alive,_ the ninja thought but let go unsaid. That was already understood between them.

Lady Hirai nodded then blew out a breath. "There's no good answer to this, but I guess that's as good as it's gonna get." She fell silent, burned with intense thought for a moment then slammed her hand on the desk and blurted: "DAMN Konoha! Damn the Yotsus too for bringing this CRAP here. They just HAD to bring it here! Ok," the mist-ninja decided once she was finished venting, "you've convinced me. You leave at once for the Hidden Leaf Village."

"ME?!" piped Haku who held up his hands. "Uh, Lady Hirai, I didn't mean to --."

"Volunteer?" she finished for him. "Well, guess what, you just did."

"Please reconsider," Haku prevailed on her. "There are ninja there who know who I really am."

"Who else can I send?" was Orimi's retort. "Under my command I got about a dozen, twitchy-ass, screw-faced, pre-reformation chunin who kill first and don't ask questions at all, and then I got like two companies of pre-adolescent genin CHILDREN. I sure as hell can't send any of them and I'm NOT going myself so that, my dear constable, my dear Demon's Apprentice, leaves YOU."

* * *

**Revenants**

"This is STUPID," whined the boy from where he hunkered in the shade at the base of a thickly-trunked tree. "What are we DOING here?"

The man he addressed, a tall, broad-shouldered figure with long, somewhat shaggy hair the color of ashes despite his robust middle-age, stood with arms crossed as he contemplated in silence the two graves before him – one marked by a massive sword embedded into the earth, the other by a simple wooden cross. The contrast between the two improvised tombstones struck an apt parallel with the deceased they represented.

A girl in plain white robes knelt reverently at the foot of the second grave, with tears pouring from her distraught, fair-complexioned face. The fourth of their number, who stood downwind several paces away, stifled a sneeze then loudly blew his nose while the fifth kept lookout.

The boy, small-framed even for his age, played with a curl of lusterless, lavender hair then blew out a breath. "Oh, COME ON!" he grumbled, bored to the point of anger. "There aren't even any BODIES here! Momo' got sucked up by the ANBU and Haku wasn't dead at all. Get it? NO bodies, no body, nobody home!"

"Hush, Gennosuke," the man commanded in a mellow-but-regal baritone.

"But Tohma-sensei!" the boy continued, frowned, growled, then turned away as he crossed his thin arms in disgust.

Tohma ignored him and cast a concerned look down at the pale, grief-stricken teenager near his feet. "I'm so sorry, Sakiko," he offered in a comforting, paternal tone. "I didn't think coming here would affect you so deeply."

The silver-haired girl sobbed miserably and wiped under her luminous, emerald eyes with a handkerchief. "H-h-he," she burbled mournfully in a voice sweet with poetic accents, "was so brave…and beautiful."

"WHAT!" squawked Gennosuke. "What are you talking about; you never even MET the guy. And what makes you think he was so beautiful? He always wore that stupid, stolen ANBU mask; he coulda been hiding a GOAT FACE under there or something! Plus, his boss was the freakin' Demon of the Hidden Mist! YOU know what he did to your clan!"

"Enough!" their leader cried at which Gennosuke, chastened, fell silent. "Haku was our brother in all but flesh and deserves to be remembered with respect. Truly great men lead by example. He and Zabuza certainly did that."

"Huh," Gennosuke spat glumly, having already forgotten his elder's rebuke. "If they were so 'great' how come they couldn't kill the Mizukage?"

"That their revolt failed is entirely beside the point," Tohma illuminated in a serious tone. "They were magnificent in their efforts. If you don't see significance in their actions, then there is truly no hope for you. Besides, there's no fighting destiny. It wasn't meant to be, that's all. In the fullness of time Zabuza and Haku both will be remembered as heroes -- those who set the stage for Kirigakure's downfall."

The man looked up then closed his eyes. "I remember when we learned of Zabuza's coup d'etat. It was like…like a flash of lightning at night during a fierce storm when everything suddenly lights up bright as day. Think about it – who should it be who overthrows the Mizukage but one of his own most fearsome henchmen. And who should it be at Zabuza's right hand but one of US, a lost progeny of the Mist's blood-gifted clans thought to be dead and forgotten." Tohma looked at his companions and shrugged. "Just like lightning though it was over with in an instant…and all was dark again. But the boldness of those two gave me something of an epiphany. It was time for us to stop living in impotent secrecy. It was time to reclaim our birthright, our heritage. It was time to act."

The forth man, silent thus far, stiffened suddenly. The grey cloaked and hooded figure's back arched as he tilted his head back, tilted it higher, then erupted with a sloppy sneeze so profound that his legs buckled when he was through and he teetered almost drunkenly.

The others all fell silent, even Sakiko who broke from her grief, and stared worriedly in the man's direction.

"Sh-t," Gennosuke gasped, eyes wide. "Why the hell did we have to bring HIM? He's GROSS…and scary!"

"Quiet, Gennosuke," snapped Tohma. "Have you no shame? Our brother Noriyasu there is the lynch-pin of all our hopes. Until the moment of vile Kirigakure's destruction, I shall not let him from my sight. Lord Tsujita?" he called to the man, his voice tinged with concern. "Are you all right?"

Noriyasu Tsujita groaned, straightened his spectacles, then gestured weakly with a gloved hand that he needed a minute. Chestnut hair flecked with white hung over the man's drawn face and sad, brown, basset-hound eyes. From one nostril a thin trail of glistening mucous leaked.

Tohma straightened. A line of muscular tension quivered across his jaw. "If you believe you're unable to hold yourself together it's important you let me know now." Turning away, the shaggy-haired man shook his head then muttered direly to himself, "It's my fault. I may have pushed him too far in the search for just the right combination of strains." Looking toward the fifth of their company, Tohma called to him. "Hideo!"

The distant figure turned from his vigil and slouched slowly toward his master revealing, as he approached, a pudgy young man in brown robes but his expression was slack and his flesh ghastly pale.

"Please assist brother Noriyasu," ordered Tohma, but before Hideo could go to him Noriyasu's hand moved, his fingers forming the 'OK' sign.

The group's leader seemed to relax.

"Are you quite sure he's dead, Lord Nikai?" Noriyasu rasped loudly as if to change the subject. "He was alive the first time."

The taller man raised an eyebrow. "Haku?" clarified Tohma, "a sensible question, given his history. But the ANBU have both Haku's and Zabuza's remains back in the Hidden Mist Village along with an after-action report from Toru the Akita's team testifying to the two fugitives' deaths. So yes, regrettably, there's little doubt that the young master is dead."

"It was a terrible battle. That's what everyone says," Sakiko added fervently, clutching her delicate hands to her chest in fond remembrance of a person she'd never known. "Haku fought them, right to the end -- a true shinobi."

While Gennosuke made a mocking face and rolled his rust-hued eyes up into his head, Tohma smiled sadly and nodded. "I share your grief, 'little sister'. He died at the hands of leaf-ninja, or so it seemed, and then again fighting the Mist. No one should have to die twice…especially alone and un-mourned like so many of us have."

Sakiko took a calming breath then prepared an offering of fruit and incense she'd brought with her to leave at the head of Haku's grave.

"Oh, how marvelous," her elder remarked appreciatively, noting what the girl's offerings rested upon – a saucer of antique porcelain.

The chipped edge of the small plate was scalloped, gilded, and inlaid with a pattern of blue and gold scales, faded and weathered with age, while the center featured an exquisitely rendered crane and carp. The artifact was crisscrossed with jagged hairline cracks so faint you could hardly see that they were there at all unless you looked closely; that's how carefully it had been glued back together.

"A very touching and appropriate gesture, Sakiko," continued Tohma, substantially impressed at her propriety. "I can see you put a lot of thought into this." The man raised an eyebrow then inquired despite himself, "Did…did you get that saucer from your brother?"

The silver-haired girl nodded.

"Is he still…?"

"Yes," she reported in a hollow voice as she lit the incense. "Tensai still refuses to come home. He doesn't even listen when I talk about it." The girl's thin lips pressed into a line as she struggled with the emotions the subject evoked. "He doesn't even answer to his own name anymore…just 'Obake'." (ghost)

"I wish there was more I could do to help," said Tohma. "I know his absence pains you."

Sakiko shook her head where she knelt. "I just don't understand why he left us, why he chooses to…to lose himself like that among the trees and the ruins." The pale figure in white blushed with anger as her eyes filled with a different kind of tears.

"It's not that he doesn't care about us, Sakiko, or that he's abandoned you. It's just that…where you see ruins he sees the beauty of what's been lost," the grey-haired man endeavored to explain. "You see him as in the grip of some sort of mania but he sees himself as a guardian, the custodian of a sacred world forever slipping into the seas of time." Her elder patted her shoulder in an attempt to reassure. "Although I too wish deeply that he would return to our enclaves, I cannot fault your brother for what's in his heart.

"If heaven is with us," Tohma added, "perhaps a semblance of that beauty can flourish once more when our clans are restored. Perhaps then, Tensai will rejoin us."

"Do you think so?" the girl looked up at him.

"I can't promise anything. But once the Village Hidden in the Mist has been destroyed then our future will be a place fertile with glorious possibilities. That is why we must strive toward that end." Tohma turned to address the group. "For far too long, Kirigakure and the Land of Water have gone unpunished for the decimation of our once-noble clans. Look at us, their pitiable remnants and descendants, living as outcasts, hunted to near-extinction." He turned back to Haku's grave, sighed desolately then gestured toward it. "In some cases…to complete extinction.

"My friends, my brothers and sisters," he announced, "in only a few short weeks, we shall be ready to take vengeance. When it is complete, the Village Hidden in the Mist will be no more than a quiet city of bones -- a place where winds whistle through broken panes, weeds spring from cracked pavements there where no pilgrim stops to pause…and only carrion crows answer the twilight."

Though Hideo abstained, the remaining four of those assembled all looked toward one another at the same time and their diverse faces galvanized with expressions of solidarity.

"Gaaa-aa-achoo!" sneezed Lord Tsujita who brought a hankie to his nose. "'Scuse me."

* * *

**Haku**

Haku let out a breath then hung his head.

The timing of this mission couldn't BE any worse! He was just starting to feel at home with the Tezukas, more like one of the family than just some guy who paid rent to live in their basement. Mari, of course, hated it when he was away and wasn't at all shy about letting him know how she felt about all this 'ninja sh-t'.

How he missed her even though it had only been a few days. It was the longest they'd been apart since they'd met! Yet as much as Haku missed her there was something greatly encouraging, almost exhilarating, about having someone special to go back to, and a real home too -- a place to return where everything was familiar and peoples' faces lit with smiles when they saw yours.

Besides having to leave his girlfriend behind (and it still seemed so strange to him to use that word) there were his students, Chuuya and Inari. Those two were really coming along and developing a good-natured rivalry that pushed both boys to improve. Just up and leaving them now for who-knows-how-long was a terrible interruption in their shinobi training.

Still…Haku was intensely curious about what had happened in Konoha, and if Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were still alive. Not knowing was really eating away at him, even more than the young ninja would have thought, and it didn't seem like he'd be able to clear the worry from his mind until he found out for sure what had become of them. These sentiments were foolish, he knew, and he knew too that Zabuza would have laughed at him for having them.

Haku remembered how he'd written a letter to Naruto but never got a reply. The teenager vacillated on whether that meant that Naruto was dead…or only that Haku's concern for him was far from mutual. Considering their history, the black-haired shinobi would hardly be surprised if that was the case.

All four of those leaf-ninja he'd met all those months ago, but Naruto especially, had lead Haku to believe that their Village was different from the others. They hadn't been like the other ninja he'd met who tended toward cruelty, selfishness and, in some cases, insanity, but quite the opposite! They'd been principled, kind, and courageous enough to make another's cause their own.

But all those great qualities that Haku had transferred to the leaf-ninjas' home and masters didn't exactly square with the nature of the cargo he carried now and what the sheer fact of its existence implied.

_A mistake? _Haku tried again to rationalize.

_Or maybe Orimi had it wrong. Neither of us knows for sure what's in those canisters. Just because some…some smuggler told Orimi something under interrogation doesn't mean it's true._

But as much as Haku was disposed to believe only the best about Konohagakure no Sato, and as fond as he still was of Naruto Uzumaki and the rest, not even he was buying the arguments.

_It's just another mission!_ the ninja declared furiously to himself, imposing a temporary end to this over-analysis, embarrassed at how needlessly complicated and personal he sometimes made things. _Drop off the canisters and get back home…the sooner the better. That's all you really have to do._

Shaking his head at these ugly and overlapping complications, Haku moved on. There'd be plenty of time to sort things out and come to terms with them once he got back home.

Fighting his thoughts, the ninja had only gone about another mile or so down the tree bounded road when he looked up in puzzlement at the sight of a pair of boots rising, soles up, from over the crest of the hill before him. The boots, it turned out, were attached to long, skinny legs, as bright and green as a frog's, which, as they negotiated the hilltop, joined into an equally green, body-suited body of a young man who walked on his hands.

_What in the world?_ wondered Haku who drew to a stop as the stranger approached, back first, head looking down and back the way he'd come.

The hand-walker's hands and forearms were wrapped in white bandages while, around his lean waist, he wore a sash along with some pouches and a holster for kunai.

"Good morning," ventured Haku with understated, uncertain nonchalance.

The stranger stopped with as much natural ease as if he walked on his feet. "Oh! Uh, good morning, ma'am!" he greeted cheerily without turning to look. "You're probably wondering what I'm doing."

"Well," the young constable began, wincing, but not totally surprised that his low, lilting voice would once again be taken as a girl's, "if I had to guess, I'd say you're training hard to become a stronger shinobi."

"AH!" the newcomer piped delightedly. "That is right! I would have put it exactly that way myself!"

The shinobi from the Land of Waves let out a breath. Remembering how Naruto had trained so hard and so late into the night that he'd fallen asleep outside in the forest, what other answer could there possibly be for THIS leaf-ninja?

"You needn't be surprised; after all, I'm a ninja too," Haku quipped then added pointedly: "Oh, and by the way…I'm a boy."

The hand-walker let his legs down then jackknifed upright with gymnastic grace -- quick, smooth and powerful. Haku's languid eyes startled immediately at the leaf-ninja's odd features – glossy, jet black bowl-cut hair, large, intense round eyes and the thickest, blackest eyebrows he'd ever seen.

"Uhn!" the newcomer gasped at him in surprise, "a ninja of the Hidden Mist!" His expression narrowed seriously. "Who are you?" his challenging voice trumpeted, his stance straight and martial, "and what is your business in the Land of Fire?!"

Although Haku knew he shouldn't doubt the leaf-ninja's capability, it was almost impossible to take him seriously with a face like that. "Please, 'older-brother', take it easy," the teenager stammered and held up his hands. "I'm Ha--, uh, Hiroo Okame, a constable from the Mist Village garrison stationed in the Land of Waves. I have urgent business with your Hokage."

The young leaf-ninja puffed his chest and jacked a thumb towards it. "I am Rock Lee, Konoha's Green Beast! And unless you have permission to travel in this land, I must disarm you at once and take you into custody."

"Disarm me?" Haku repeated in soft, mystified tone, then looked down at his constable's jutte, a tapered metal baton with a hooked flange close to the hilt, which he now wore habitually at his belt. "What…this?"

Lee frowned, nodding firmly.

Rolling his eyes with disbelief, the trespassing ninja withdrew the weapon and tossed it over.

The green ninja snatched it expertly from the air. "Is that all?"

"Um," Haku admitted, eyes flickering, "not exactly." He peeled open the top of his vest then, revealing hidden quivers of dozens and dozens of gleaming, razor-pointed senbon.

Lee gawked and startled, his expression making his face seem even funnier.

"Please, Mr. Lee," said Haku, holding back a chuckle and trying desperately to seem diplomatic. "I'm traveling alone, and there are many would go to great lengths to take what I'm carrying with me. It's only natural that I should be armed."

"Keep your needles then," the emerald figure allowed, "but you must still come with me."

"As you wish," Haku appeared to relent, being that this strange genin seemed intent on taking him to the very place he wished to go.

Lee frowned then gestured curtly for Haku to lead the way, at which the 'captive' ninja gave him a look but otherwise held his peace.

* * *

"So…Mr. Lee," offered Haku after they started walking. "Is the Hidden Leaf Village far?"

Lee, trailing him, remained silent.

"I don't think that information is secret."

"It is about ten miles," his custodian reported, although with palpable reluctance.

The ninja from Wave Country's eyes went wide. "You," blurted Haku, "you walked ten miles on your HANDS?"

"Yes," Lee affirmed, "I have only recently been healed from an injury I sustained during the chunin exams so my training is not up to my usual levels of intensity. Hmm, I should not have told you that."

Zabuza's former student again rolled his eyes.

The two continued on in a tense, awkward silence; Haku leading, Lee following.

"Tell me," asked Rock Lee after a time as curiosity apparently got the better of him, "what is it you wish to see the Hokage about?"

Haku half-considered a sour response but made an effort to be cordial. "We happened to recover some property that was stolen from your village," the ninja explained, relating a version of the truth. "I am simply returning it."

"That is all?"

Haku shrugged. "Basically," the young ninja said then added, turning toward a general sort of question he thought his minder wouldn't mind, "What's he like, by the way, your Hokage?"

Rock Lee remained quiet long enough to make Haku reconsider what he'd asked. The constable looked up the road ahead but listened keenly to his follower's steady footfalls.

"She," the leaf-ninja's voice clarified. "Lady Tsunade is our fifth Hokage."

Haku's mouth fell open as he pieced together the rest from what Lee had left unsaid -- The Third Hokage, Sarutobi, was dead then, killed probably during the invasion. "I'm sorry, I didn't know," the former fugitive offered. "What's _she_ like, if I may ask?"

"Strong," Lee opined at once, then brightened. "And her skills in the medical arts are truly amazing! It was she who healed me when no one else was able to."

"A medical ninja, huh?" Suspicions tugged at Haku as the teenager took tighter hold of his satchel with its disturbing contents. "So what kind of woman is she?" he inquired, though the answer was a great deal more important to him than he let on.

Again Lee fell silent.

"Well?"

"She is," he reported awkwardly, "uh, very straight-forward…and certainly capable and confident."

Haku slowed his pace and frowned. "The Sandaime Hokage was a judicious man by reputation. I had hoped to meet with him. I've never heard of Tsunade, so I'm wondering if it's likely I'll leave her presence intact."

"Of course!" Lee bristled defensively. "If your mission is what you say it is, then you will be treated as a guest."

The young man once known as The Demon's Apprentice considered the leaf-ninja's tone -- high, energetic, and truly incapable of deceit…at least as far as he was able to tell. "I suppose I'll take your word for it," he resolved then resumed his pace.

The two walked on a bit further; the atmosphere stiflingly un-companionable. At last Haku heard his green warder ask: "I have never been to Kirigakure no Sato, Constable. What is it like?"

Haku's chin rose as the question stirred memories. He hadn't really expected Lee to ask that. "Oh, well," he began slowly, "it's been awhile since I was there, over two-and-a-half years, and I have few fond memories of the place. But what it's like – it's dark and dim for much of the year, often shrouded in mist just like its name suggests. It's old too and quiet, with ornate and ancient buildings bounded by murky canals that reflect the facades like black mirrors. The Village Hidden in the Mist has a haunting beauty, a lonely, eternal quality, but it is not a happy place." Haku could feel himself getting pulled into the past, when Zabuza Momochi was his entire world, and felt that he was probably telling Rock Lee much more than he really cared to know. Suspecting that, he quickly concluded: "I sometimes think that too many terrible things have happened there and too much blood spilled for it to ever be."

The young constable heard Lee hum thoughtfully behind him. "Konoha is nothing like that," he offered. It was not criticism but a statement of fact as he saw it. "We have only a few grand buildings, the stadium, the Hokage's tower; the rest are spare and practical. But there are people everywhere, going here and there, just simply living their lives!"

Haku nodded. That much was as he'd always thought. Whether he could trust the leaf-genin's masters in Konohagakure remained unclear, but it seemed so far that he could trust Lee.

"Mr. Lee," the ninja ventured, stopped then turned toward his still-suspicious guardian, "if you wish to talk more would it be too much to ask that you walk at my side?"

Rock Lee stopped and squinted at him doubtfully.

"Really, Mr. Lee," the teenager from Wave Country chided, "as 'strong and manly' as you obviously are, do you really think I could subdue you so easily that you need me to walk with my back to you?" Haku mugged a careful grin. Just like with Naruto, the ninja would leave it up to Lee to decide if he was joking or not.

The genin's thick eyebrows furrowed. "I suppose not," he answered after a moment, then moved alongside Haku. "If you intended harm, you could easily have avoided or attacked me before."

Haku nodded and gave him an obliging smile. "Actually, it's fortunate I ran into you. In your company I'm less likely to be killed by your patrols." The ninja looked up and squinted. "And it looks like we'll be putting that to the test."

Barely a minute later, five leaf-ninja appeared like ghosts from the foliage and had them surrounded. The leaf-shinobi waited a few moments. Whether that was to see how either of the two would react or just for theatrical effect, it was hard to tell.

"You're not trying to do OUR job too, are you Lee?" asked their leader at last. He was older than both Haku and Lee, and wore his hitai-ate in a blue bandana that covered the top of his head. Canting his head toward the stranger, the chunin asked: "So, who's this?"

"He says his name is Hiroo Okame," Lee reported, "a constable from the Mist's Wave Country garrison, and that he has come here to return some stolen property to Lady Tsunade."

Another chunin, with bushier black hair sprouting over the edges of his hitai-ate and a bandage crossing over the bridge of his nose, glared askance at Haku then down at his satchel. "You've sure come a long way just for that," the leaf-ninja offered doubtfully. "But you got to know that there's no way we're just going to let you walk up to the Hokage, especially when you could have practically anything hidden in that bag."

"Mr. Hagame is right," said Rock Lee to Haku, though in a more genial tone. "None of us can take her safety lightly."

Haku nodded coolly and noted how the ninja were preparing themselves. The teenager doubted they'd go so far as to attack him without serious provocation, but he could hardly be sure. Just as pressing on his mind was what would happen to his satchel and its dreadful contents if he turned them over…or if he were killed.

"Your reasons make perfect sense," the young ninja conceded. "However, my mission is to return these items to the Hokage herself. If handing them over to anyone else would do, I would have been more than happy to give them to Mr. Lee."

"Given the circumstances," said the leaf-ninjas' leader, slightly ominously, "you might want to consider _being flexible_. WE'LL take what you got, and if it turns out to be something important, we'll make sure the Hokage knows."

Haku shook his head firmly. Well-trained portions of mind were now plotting positions and trajectories, and judging which jutsu would be most effective given the number of adversaries and the terrain. The fact that Rock Lee had not backed away from him so much as an inch reaffirmed in his mind that his escort was an expert fighter and would try to take him on at close range.

"I'm only a visitor in your land," Haku ventured, "so I mean to abide by your rules as far as I can. Please try to understand -- the consequences would be great if these materials fell into the wrong hands."

The chunin's eyes narrowed with disbelief at having his non-negotiable terms contested. "Are you mental or something? I told you, we'll inform the Hokage about what you're carrying if it turns out to be what you say. But you're NOT going a step farther until we check you out and especially what's in that bag."

Haku frowned. Of course with a recent invasion burning in their minds it made sense for the leaf-shinobi to be suspicious of rival ninja bearing gifts. Still, relinquishing something like this to these ninja was completely unacceptable. As he considered his options, Haku could swear he felt the temperature drop.

_Down boy,_ Zabuza's former student warned himself as he reined in his kekkei-genkai. _Getting into a fight here is utterly senseless._ "If I may suggest a possible solution?" said Haku in an agreeable voice.

The man with the bandana shrugged. "Go ahead."

"There's a jonin kunoichi named Anko Mitarashi who knows my commander, Lady Orimi. She visited Wave Country not too long ago and I think she'll be able to vouch for me."

The leaf-ninjas exchanged curious looks but then agreed. "Ok, Okame," said Hagame, "we'll go get her. But she's really, REALLY gonna be pissed-off if you're messing around."

With the matter postponed for now and five pairs of eyes watching his every move, Haku moved slowly to the side of the road then sat down and rested his back against a tree to wait.

The leaf-ninja patrol huddled up and discussed a game-plan for a few moments then one of their number rushed off, presumably to find Anko. Three of the remaining sentries then took cautious positions around the trespasser while the fourth made hand signs and vanished.

Haku breathed a sigh of relief, took up his canteen then looked up in surprise as Rock Lee joined him. Haku thought it strange, the smile on the genin's face as he curled in his green legs and sat down.

"I am glad that you found a way so that we would not have to fight, Mr. Okame," Lee proclaimed, his positive energy breaking the residual tension.

Haku raised an eyebrow then smiled. "Are you relieved…or disappointed?"

"Both," admitted the leaf-ninja guiltlessly. "Fighting for no reason is not part of my nindo. But still, I am curious as to what skills you possess. It is the funniest thing," Lee chimed in a puzzled voice, black eyebrows knitting, "although you do not look at all fearsome, when it seemed like we were going to fight…I actually felt a chill! That has never happened before."

The long-haired ninja looked away as he absently scratched his cheek. "Oh, well," he offered, "nerves affect people in different ways."

"Not me! Not until now, anyway." Rock Lee straightened then gestured grandly, eyes shining, grin flashing, fist upraised with passion. **"For I am confident that the training Gai-sensei gave me and the hard work I have done will enable me to overcome whatever challenges may arise!"**

Haku stared nonplussed at his strange companion's declaration. "I see," he managed to reply, but only barely. "That shouldn't surprise me, but keep in mind…I feel exactly the same way about **MY** sensei." The two ninja exchanged grins. Haku raised his canteen to his lips then, being gracious, offered it to Lee first.

Lee took it and drank; his dark, round eyes lit with surprise then he drank some more in a series of greedy gulps. "Oh! I am sorry, Hiroo, uh, Mr. Okame," he gushed when he gave the canteen back. "I did not mean to take so much, but that water is so wonderfully ice cold and I did not realize how thirsty I was. You must have just refilled it from a spring nearby."

Haku tilted his head and didn't contradict him. "You may call me Hiroo. Are you quite sure you'd rather not sit with your friends?" he teased then, tilting his head toward the other leaf-ninja that surrounded them.

"No," answered Lee. "I have known Izumo, Kotetsu and the others for awhile now and they have yet to tell me anything interesting. But you managed to in the first five minutes of meeting you." The genin's expression fell. "It does concern me though, Hiroo, that you might have come to bring harm to my Village."

Haku nodded. "A possibility you have to acknowledge."

"After speaking with you I do not think so, but I have been told I am still naive."

The young constable's eyes turned towards him. "My sensei said the same thing to me on occasion, and I've noticed it's true about me too…but I don't think it's a bad thing, at least, not all the time." Haku's wide, grey eyes lifted toward their guards. "Look at your friends – one's gone to get Anko, three have positioned themselves around me at strategic distances so they can watch my movements and prevent my escape, while the fifth has gone down the road to find out if I came alone. The presumption is that I intend harm, and they may be right. You, at least, consider other possibilities. Which of you is naive depends, I guess, on how this all turns out." The ninja grinned, took another swig of water, then raised it in a toast toward his companion. "Either way, I appreciate that you gave me the benefit of a doubt."

The two paused as the conversation lulled, an agreeable silence this time.

"Mr. Lee," the visiting ninja broke in with barely suppressed urgency, "there's something I've been meaning to ask you about. In your village, there's a team of genin lead by The Copy Ninja, Kakashi Hatake. Do you know them?"

"Yes, of course I do," answered Lee, surprised at the question. "Why do you ask?"

"Just tell me…are they still alive; did they survive the invasion?"

Lee grunted affirmatively and nodded. "They all did."

Haku brightened with relief…then looked away as his expression faded. There it was; he had his answer. Though it was wonderful beyond words that those four were alive, the young ninja knew now that Naruto hadn't replied to his letter not because he was dead but for some other reason: he didn't want to, or didn't care. The realization tore at Haku with unexpected intensity – a sickeningly empty feeling that took up residence in the pit of his stomach.

_What did you expect?_ Haku castigated himself, mortified and ashamed at having been so foolish as to believe otherwise.

"Do…do you know them?" Lee inquired.

"No," Haku stated, shaking his head, then added more calmly, "no, not really. I encountered them on a mission awhile ago and was impressed enough to inquire. That's all."

A shadow crossed over Haku then at which the ninja shaded his eyes and looked up into a young woman's stern countenance. The leaf-kunoichi gave him a smug, imperious stare, hands braced into her hips. Her figure, marvelously athletic and hugged by dense fishnet worn under a tan trench-coat, the fierce, flashing eyes the color of slate, and dark hair worn in a pony-tail matched exactly how Lady Orimi had described her.

"So what the hell do YOU want?" said Anko Mitarashi, foregoing customary greetings and getting right to the point. "You better have a good reason for dragging me all the way out here, kid. I don't care who sent you!"

Haku blinked, blinked again then brushed himself off and rose. "I wish to see the Hokage," he explained simply and bowed.

Anko leveled a look. "She doesn't see just anybody, you know. Didn't these guys explain?"

"She'll see me."

"Oh, yeah, and why is that?"

"Because I have the canisters."

The veteran kunoichi paused, only for a moment, but it let Haku know she knew what he was talking about. "What canisters?"

"The one's you've been looking for," The Demon's Apprentice clarified matter-of-factly. "Of course, if I'm mistaken, then I'll be on my way."

"Yeah, yeah, hold on, tough guy," answered Anko who stayed him with a gesture. She was already done playing 'coy'. "So you know where they are?"

"I have them with me."

The jonin's expression startled slightly then hardened. "Let me see."

Haku met her eyes. "Please understand, I was instructed to turn them over ONLY to your Hokage." When the woman nodded, Haku unfastened the straps and zippers on his satchel then opened it wide enough for Anko to have a look inside.

The leaf-ninja frowned in thought then muttered curtly to the patrol: "I'll take it from here."

Izumo's expression pinched. "'You sure, Anko?"

The jonin nodded definitively at which the patrol collected themselves then leaped away to resume their duties. Anko then turned to Rock Lee. "You too, Lee," she insisted.

The green-clad ninja bridled at being dismissed but then accepted it, nodding first to Anko and then to Haku. "It was nice to meet you, Hiroo," he offered, smiling brightly, then returned his confiscated jutte. "I hope the rest of your journey goes well."

Haku couldn't help but grin. Of all the people he'd ever met, Rock Lee was certainly one of a kind. "Thank you, Lee," he said as he bowed his farewell.

Once the genin had gone and Anko was sure they were alone, she rounded on her visitor. "So you're just a helpful policeman returning what's been stolen," she offered with fiery suspicion, "is that your story?"

"I'm sorry, was that a question?" replied Haku with a wince.

"I just hope you know what you're doing."

Haku groaned, raised his hands tiredly and let them fall to his side. "Miss Mitarashi, I've come a long way," the young ninja explained. "I've left behind my duties and those who care about me, and I hardly need to have my motives, my intelligence and my character questioned like this. I am here because of you." He pointed toward his satchel. "These are YOUR canisters. Even if I was the devil himself, the depths of my iniquity would be like nothing compared to what I'm carrying."

Anko scowled then grit her teeth, clearly a woman not at all reluctant to start trading blows once fighting words were spoken, but this time she relented…only because she knew the visitor was right. "Come on," she grumbled brusquely then turned to lead the way, walking up the road toward the Hidden Leaf Village.

* * *

_That's it for chapter one. Getting started is always the hardest part. After talking it over with some of my early reviewers I edited this chapter pretty heavily, removing the summation in the first couple of pages and just generally trying to smooth things out. Everything else seemed to go over ok, at least nobody had anything to say about the rest. Thanks._

_Oh, I'd also like to thank __**top**__ for letting me borrow the 'Tsujita clan' from his fic __'Assassins in the Snow.'_

_So...__what do you think so far?_

--J


	2. Mission to Konohagakure Part 2

_Hi, and thanks for coming back! -- Jonohex_

* * *

**Haku**

Konohagakure's great, jade-colored gates soon came into view along with its walls of towering, weathered concrete which stood high over the lush treetops. Never would Haku have guessed he'd ever see them. Only when the traveler drew closer did the shinobi notice the portions that were scarred or crumbled, under repair and covered in scaffolding, having been breached by the Sand and Sound's assault.

_What creatures conjured by ninja magic battled here?_ he wondered; his imagination, coupled with memories from his own experiences, taking hold. _What terrible jutsu must have traded over these walls?_

Anko, silent since their last unpleasant exchange, guided Haku through the open portals, past the guards and onto the Hidden Leaf Village's quaint streets where the young ninja couldn't help but gawk goggle-eyed like some tourist at the sprawling expanses of odd-shaped buildings aproned with orange or blue-colored wood and metal awnings strung haphazardly with power conduits and downspouts, the verdant parks, throngs of relaxed citizens and, most of all, the stone visages of four Hokages that gazed down with grand, paternal vigilance from the northern cliff faces beyond.

Every so often the black-haired teenager's keen eyes fell toward those parts of the small city where workmen toiled, rebuilding or replacing structures that had been destroyed months before, and reminding the ninja of his own brief stint as a construction laborer in the recovering Land of Waves.

"Was it bad?" murmured Haku, who spoke without meaning to.

"Pretty bad," Anko admitted coolly but honestly. "But it could have been worse. This village has seen worse and come through just fine." The statuesque and dark-haired kunoichi gave her village an appraising, approving look then returned her hands into the pockets of her tan trench-coat. "We'll get through this too…as we always have."

The architecture made more sense now. Konoha had probably been destroyed and rebuilt several times over its history so no one expected anything to last very long. That's why its buildings seemed so thrown-together. In that way it was the opposite of the Hidden Mist Village – a place built long ago. It's out of the way location made Kirigakure easy to defend and inconvenient to invade but that still had not saved the place from upheavals.

"Look, we had nothing to do with it!" blurted Anko with sudden passion, disrupting the slow stream of the newcomer's thoughts.

"Huh?" Haku glanced at her, nonplussed.

"Those canisters!" she clarified and cast a look down at the satchel Haku carried, clutched close by his side. "It was all a stupid mistake. We got taken in by a…a snake-tongued bastard selling easy solutions. You need to understand --."

"Please," Haku interrupted, his voice rasping desperately. "I didn't come here to pass judgment on anyone and I'm hardly fit for that task anyway. Miss Anko, I'm just a delivery boy. My opinion means nothing, and all I want to do is drop off what I'm supposed to and go home."

Anko, looking as if she'd been somehow defeated, retreated back into silence and guided Haku toward the Hokage's tower – a thick-walled, vermillion-colored citadel that rose up in a tapering, cylindrical mound over a maze of smaller, typical, wood-sided buildings with overhanging roofs of tile or standing-seam.

Once there, the visiting ninja found himself escorted past incredulous guards who all gave the teenager stares of naked disbelief, with some gasping aloud in amazement at the sight of a uniformed mist-ninja treading _these_ hallways.

The leaf-jonin conducted Haku down corridors and up stairways, with whispers following in their wake the whole way, until they finally reached the Hokage's lofty offices.

"Wait here a sec'," ordered Anko, who left Haku just outside.

When she reappeared from the Hokage's door a few minutes later, the kunoichi gestured for him to come in.

Zabuza's former apprentice sighed, straightened his appearance and did his best to get ready. He'd never met an actual Kage before…well, once, kind-of, but you could hardly call THAT a 'meeting'. Haku then crossed the threshold almost with relief at seeing the end of his mission so close at hand.

* * *

The Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, Lady Tsunade, turned out to be a confident and formidable-looking woman, quite a bit younger and much, MUCH more fully-figured than Haku had expected, with long, sandy hair gathered into sweeping, twin pony-tails, and a curious gemstone at the center of her forehead. As she rose from behind a 'U'-shaped desk piled with files and paperwork, Haku noticed that her attire, far from being ornate like Lady Orimi's magisterial raiment, consisted of a long, plain, cloud-grey tunic worn with a sash under a pale jade robe hemmed in bright green.

To the Hokage's right stood two more of her jonin -- a striking woman with bright red eyes and a luxurious mane of wavy black hair; and a more militant-looking man with a trimmed, dark beard and an unlit cigarette hanging from his lips. To Tsunade's left stood a younger woman with short, black hair and calm, dark eyes who Haku gathered was Tsunade's adjutant.

_And is that…is that a little pig in a vest, wearing pearls she's carrying?_ the guest marveled at the sight, assuming there was some good explanation for that.

But as Haku slowly took in the rest of the surprisingly sparsely-furnished office he suddenly felt faint. The ninja froze and the breath stopped in his chest because there in the corner leaning against the wall with unconcerned nonchalance, with most of his face masked in midnight-blue and a tall brush of silver hair flaring over the top of his leaf-ninja's hitai-ate, stood the very man who'd once killed him.

The room and all the important people in it vanished before Haku's eyes as they froze on Kakashi Hatake's unforgettable form and face – a face branded forever into the young shinobi's memory along with the copy-ninja's swirling sharingan and the terrible power of his chidori: a blinding white and blue flash of visible, electric chakra that had blazed at the center of the leaf-ninja's palm…shattering Haku's walls of protective ice, burning effortlessly through clothing, layers of senbon quivers and the armor beneath, then onward into his chest with a gush of searing pain and a fantail splatter of blood.

It took a massive effort of will for Haku to pull himself back from that moment all the while resisting a nearly-overpowering urge to recoil. His heart raced; heat prickled along his hairline beneath the ninja's hitai-ate as he tried to remember that Kakashi had not been trying to kill him, but his master. And even if the leaf-ninja's attack had been deliberate, Kakashi would still have been well within his rights -- defending both the Leaf Village's client and his own team of genin.

_Zabuza and I,_ Haku pained at having to admit, though nothing succeeded in making the tall jonin's presence any more tolerable, _were nothing more than assassins…trying to kill a brave and good man, Tazuna. _

"Mr. Okame, is it?" offered Tsunade uncertainly, having doubtlessly taken notice of her guest's reaction.

"Uh…," Haku gulped, breathless and unnerved, then remembered belatedly to bow. Just the sight of Kakashi again seemed to strip him of all eight years of Zabuza's pitiless training and left him only a child – a child with some promising talents maybe, but with frailties no jutsu would ever overcome.

Lady Hirai had been wrong to send him.

"Y-yes, Lady Hokage…Hiroo Okame," the young ninja managed his alias at last. It was almost impossible for him not to stare at Kakashi, but not looking only seemed to reinforce the fact that he was deliberately averting his gaze. "I'm a constable with the Wave Country Garrison commanded by the Lady Magistrate, Orimi Hirai, who sends her respects."

The woman's authoritative brow beetled as she sat back down. "A garrison?" she repeated curiously, then turned to the woman beside her. "Shizune, did we know that?"

The dark-haired kunoichi next to her cupped her hand and whispered discreetly in the woman's ear.

"What?" the Hokage blurted.

Shizune sighed, gave Haku an awkward glance, then repeated aloud: "Kirigakure no Sato has a force stationed in Wave Country, responding, so they maintain, to security concerns. It's about a quarter of the way down in that stack of reports you never, um, haven't read yet, Lady Tsunade."

Haku's eyes widened a little as he half-expected Tsunade to go off on her assistant for the slip (if it WAS a slip), yet the Fifth Hokage took it in stride.

"Why should I read it at all since you saved me the trouble?" she advanced wryly then returned to the subject at hand. "But now, Constable, Miss Anko tells me you've come all this way to return some stolen property of ours. Shall we have a look?"

Haku responded eagerly to the prompt and slung the satchel off his shoulder, opened it then set the two canisters, one white and one black, on the Hokage's desk.

A pall of silence fell. Postures straightened and glances flickered amongst her senior ninja.

"Hmm," offered Tsunade dispassionately, then turned to the two jonin at her right. "Kurenai…Asuma," she intoned, at which the pair looked up alertly, "take these down and have the medical corps examine their contents. Report the results back to me the instant they're done. Don't let them out of your sight for any reason. Don't speak to anyone, even if it's me, unless it's within this room. Understood?"

The two nodded dutifully, took the canisters then left at once.

The woman then fixed Haku with amber eyes. "I suppose I should just say 'thanks' and leave it at that, but I'm curious now…why did your Magistrate Hirai want us to have those canisters back? Isn't the rule 'finders-keepers'?"

The young ninja wriggled a little before her gaze. Remaining calm under pressure had always been one of his greatest strengths. But standing here in front of the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village while in the same room as the man who'd come so very close to killing him and had all but destroyed his beloved master, Zabuza, and especially considering what he'd just handed over to them, was taxing much more than just the limits of his normally placid demeanor. How could he be expected to remain calm with practically every particle of his being rebelling?!

"There are some in this world," Haku replied, letting little of his turmoil surface, "with wisdom enough to let Pandora's Box remain shut."

Tsunade's expression rose at the implication. "Unlike us, you mean," she deciphered cleverly. "Still, am I to assume that you're doing this out of the 'goodness of your hearts'?"

Haku, fighting dizziness, blinked and shook his head. He wanted to excuse himself and go; maybe even go without excusing himself and just run off – flee this place back to Wave Country where matters were infinitely more simple.

Saying what he'd said had been foolish.

"Your predecessor, Lord Sarutobi, showed our garrison admirable restraint when Lady Hirai ordered mist-ninja into Fire Country to reclaim money and property stolen from the Land of Waves by the late plutocrat, Gato," the shinobi began in a forced monotone. "The Magistrate has not forgotten that and was inclined to order this return of your property as a gesture of acknowledgement."

Tsunade looked toward Shizune who affirmed a portion of the young ninja's account. "Do you mean," she advanced skeptically, "that the Mizukage knows _nothing_ of this?"

"He knows," Haku clarified. "My Lady has already sent her report."

"Somehow I'm getting the idea that the version he gets will read just a little differently from what you've told me," the Hokage ventured then cocked an eyebrow. "It's quite a dangerous game your Lady Magistrate's playing…and you too, Constable."

"We didn't exactly have much of a choice, now did we?" Haku half-snapped, realizing he'd messed up the instant the words left his mouth.

The room fell dreadfully quiet.

"Anko, Kakashi, Shizune," said the Hokage after a thoughtful pause. "Why don't you give us a minute alone?"

Shizune looked at her worriedly, then at Haku, then back at her. "Lady Tsunade…are you sure?" Their visitor was, after all, in full uniform and undoubtedly had at his fingertips a variety of weapons which included the jutte worn plainly on his belt.

"I'm a big girl; I can take care of myself," replied Tsunade unabashedly. "Besides, Mr. Okame here is no assassin, are you?"

"No," stated Haku. "I am not."

Anko bowed then paced out followed by a still-concerned Shizune. Her small pig oinked in a mournful tone. Kakashi, lastly, roused himself from the corner, took one last, long and undecipherable look at Haku, bowed to Tsunade then left the Hokage's office, closing the door behind him.

Tsunade frowned, straightening as she watched the copy-ninja go.

"That was weird," the woman remarked to herself then stroked a stray strand of sandy hair from her face. "I don't think Kakashi's ever been that quiet. Usually I don't like what he has to say so maybe I shouldn't complain, but it is a little unnerving." She turned back to Haku and asked, "Have you met before?"

"Yes."

The Hokage frowned. "How'd that go?"

"I think he made more of an impression on me than I did upon him."

Tsunade shrugged. "I can only assume from your various statements and the plain fact that you're standing here in my office, that the Yotsu middlemen we've been tracking ran afoul of the law in Wave Country and that's how you came to possess those canisters." The Fifth Hokage laughed lightly as she leaned back in her seat. "They must have told you quite a story. I can only imagine."

Haku stared blankly, astonished at the woman's nerve. Not that he'd known quite what to expect from her when confronted by such serious accusations, veiled so far, but he hadn't expected petty deceit. "Do --," the ninja began with disbelief, his grey eyes narrowing to slits, "do you _deny_ it?"

"I don't know," offered Lady Tsunade in a teasing, carefree voice. "What did they say?"

The ninja's breath quickened. This was too much. What did she expect anyone to believe was inside a pair of hermetically-sealed, high-tech containers from The Land of Snow? It sure as hell wasn't pickles and preserves!

Haku stood before Tsunade and tried to distance himself, knowing she was deliberately baiting him. The young constable looked away as he bit his lip. He knew the best thing he could possibly say was: _'nothing, Lady Hokage, the Yotsus didn't know themselves what they had,'_ because that would be the end of it and he could go; he could go and never again have to think about the Village Hidden in the Leaves with its inexplicable dichotomy of outgoing and idiosyncratic genin…and secrets that were abominable beyond belief. Better still, Haku could smile and nod and not say a word. If he could only just suck it up and do this one simple little thing...

And really, what satisfaction did he imagine he would he get from confronting the Hokage? What good would it do? What would it change and what would it matter? For that matter what did he expect from Tsunade: guilt, some breathtaking explanation?

No, that wasn't it.

Maybe being a constable had sunk in too deeply with him. Maybe it was Haku's conversations with the Mist ninja-lord, Kissohamaru Hirai, or his disciple, Juri, that lead him at that moment to conclude that even if being powerful afforded many luxuries, to have ones' iniquities go unchallenged and unrecognized should never be one of them. Besides, this one of all possible crimes was intensely personal for him. Letting it pass without comment would imply his consent and THAT, he could not allow.

"You want to know what they said?" replied Haku with cold, defiant anger, "they said you were experimenting in human eugenics. And that those canisters hold genetic materials, eggs and semen, extracted undoubtedly without their knowledge from members of your own Village's Uchiha clan. The rest is easy enough to figure out: combined with forbidden jutsu and technologies imported from Yukigakure you could raise possibly an entire army of ninja fighters, all possessing the clan's kekkei-genkai, in a single generation."

Tsunade blinked lazily but gave no other reaction and leaned forward on her desk, resting her cheek on a palm. "What a fascinating idea," she remarked abstractly, "although it seems a bit, I don't know, hap-hazard to me."

"Not all the products of such a program would manifest a functional sharingan," Haku prosecuted icily, pacing in agitation, "but I'm sure anyone willing to mass-produce human life for such a specific purpose would not be above 'culling the rejects'.

"Of course, I can't imagine that the Uchihas themselves would have ever tolerated living duplicates taken from their own genetic stock so it's kind of convenient that they were all _massacred_...by one of their own, or so the story goes." The young shinobi paused to let all the dire implications sink in. "The only remaining practical matter I can think of is how you were planning to train --." Haku stopped himself short as his eyes tracked the path to the door that Kakashi Hatake had taken mere moments ago. "Ah," he realized and trembled, "of course, how…how stupid of me."

The teenager's voice failed then for everything he'd said up until that point he'd said with the intent to hurt Tsunade, to expose her crimes and demand some sort of answer for them, but that last assertion had hurt him instead. What he'd just said about Kakashi had hit too close to home and one of the defining moments of Haku's young life. Until this moment he really hadn't suspected the copy-ninja's involvement which seemed so obvious now. But really, how else could anyone not born an Uchiha come to possess one of their legendary eyes?

And if this village WAS capable of violating every concept of human decency with something as loathsome as a mass in-vitro fertilization program, growing soldiers like crops, what did that imply about its other defenders?

What did that say about _Naruto's_ hidden power…as dark and supernatural a force as Haku had ever encountered. Who knows what sort of explanation there could be for that. Maybe Naruto too was just some sort of Leaf-Village experiment as unspeakable as the one now revealed.

Haku tried to drive the notions from his thoughts or at least settle them into some sort of order he could accept, but they wouldn't go. The rule was that when presented with many different explanations, the simplest one almost always prevailed. The shinobi stood in mute silence with eyes fixed and frozen, fingers clenching and unclenching.

"I'm sorry, Lady Tsunade," Zabuza's student forced himself to say, as laid-bare as he'd even been. "I just came here to return what was stolen from you. It's not my place to criticize your 'policies', whatever they might be."

Tsunade looked up, having absorbed everything Haku had said with calm acceptance. Rising then, she turned away and went to the long expanse of windows behind her.

"Come here, would you, Constable," she beckoned in a muted voice.

Haku, empty of will, obeyed.

When he reached the Hokage's side the woman continued, "What do you see?"

The ninja looked out over the rooftops, down at the streets stirring with people, then toward the high walls beyond. "The Hidden Leaf Village," he answered glumly, eyes rolling at having been nudged into answering a rhetorical question.

"As Hokage, I am charged with protecting it," she informed him. "Those people down there trust me to insure that they won't all be horribly killed under my watch. As you might imagine, it's a responsibility I take very seriously." Tsunade crossed her arms as her face fell. "It should be fairly obvious to you that there are a lot of people who would like, more than anything, to make a memory of us…and that they are capable. "Yes," she intoned gravely, her speech slow and deliberate, "they are certainly capable."

Haku nodded. That much he understood.

"So the question comes up from time to time – faced with getting wiped out, what are we willing to do to keep that from happening?"

The young shinobi glanced up at the Hokage's stoic profile but said nothing.

"Don't think I'm disagreeing with you," offered Lady Tsunade as if privy to his thoughts. "One of our answers to that question was inexcusable – a eugenics program exactly like you said."

Haku gaped and staggered back a step; startled that she would admit it plainly now after being so cagey before.

Without missing a beat the woman continued: "The decision to create that program was made _before_ my tenure as Hokage, and without the knowledge of any of my predecessors. Actually, the originator's real purpose was driven NOT by concern for the Leaf Village but by, let's just say," her eyes lifted in thought, "personal peculiarities and ambitions.

"But," Tsunade went on to explain, "I can certainly understand the broader appeal of wanting to have an invincible army of sharingan soldiers on hand to protect us. In fact, there are still people of great influence around here who support this program at least as far as keeping it as an option – better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it; if you follow me. As far as THAT goes, it makes perfect sense."

The Fifth Hokage's eyes narrowed as she rested her hands on the window sill. "If you're wondering if I have regrets about this program, that I just found out a few days ago I'd inherited, I do, deeply, for the danger it puts us in and what it says about our Village. There's little doubt we'd be attacked immediately if the other ninja villages had evidence that we'd violated our treaties with them had the basic components for a program like this, especially now." Tsunade sighed and her expression changed. "And then too, I always liked to think that we had higher standards than our enemies and rivals but…I guess we're all the same when it comes right down to it."

The woman fell silent, and for a time both ninja stood and gazed out the window at the sunlit village down below – a collage of striking shapes, bright, bold colors and movement beneath a cerulean sky.

Haku, discomfited, felt compelled to speak. "I am not a leaf-ninja," he said, "but I don't think…I could be wrong but I don't think that's the kind of place your ninja pledge themselves to and risk their lives for. Would you really make fools of them?"

Haku's biting question drew a wince from the Hokage who conceded the point. "Not if I could help it," she replied then again fell quiet.

The young shinobi could tell now that this was an uncomfortable subject for her, and found in that an odd sense of reassurance.

"I'd love to promise that we'd _never_ do anything like this again, Constable, but I can't. I don't know what the future will bring." The admission, reluctantly given, seemed to pain the woman who gave her visitor from Wave Country a sideways glance. "I can tell you that we'll try; I'll try. I'll tell you that what's in those canisters represents the worst in us – a people reduced by fear to being less than animals, willing to claw, bite and kill, toss aside everything they hold dear for anything they think might protect them."

"I suppose it was quite stupid of me then," proposed Haku, "not delivering those canisters to Kirigakure."

The Lady Hokage shrugged absently at the remark. "Is that what you think? Not that I would blame you."

"I don't know," the teenager answered with plaintive sincerity, his thin brow knitting. "But I do know that the Mizukage is not a wise man, and fear what he would have done if suddenly presented with the Uchiha Clan's stolen heritage." Looking up at the woman, Haku added: "I don't know you though, Lady Tsunade. I only heard your name for the first time about an hour ago. But I still figured with you there was at least a chance this won't all end in disaster…like the last time Kirigakure attempted a program like yours."

Tsunade suppressed shock, quickly composed herself then looked back at her visitor, studying his serious, youthful and feminine face afresh. "You sure are different from any other mist-ninja I've met. And I'm starting to doubt that you're just some 'delivery boy'," she noted in a way that was half tough, half playful. "Since you and Lady Hirai obviously put a lot on the line personally for this mission I might as well be honest. I think I owe you that much." The Lady Hokage turned her gaze back toward the window. "And that way you'll be able to tell if you made the right choice by giving us those canisters back…or if you just screwed up royally."

Haku's grey eyes lifted a little at what she'd said, then the ninja canted his head as he settled in to listen.

"I've lost a lot of people who were dear to me," Tsunade began, "friends, a lover, a brother, all for the sake of this Village. I hate the idea of losing anyone else to these…ridiculous games we play with the other Hidden Villages, daimyo, criminals, lunatics, fools and countless other 'bad actors'.

"My grandfather was the very first Hokage, did you know that? He co-founded this whole place; helped carve it from the wilderness. He managed to bring together clans who otherwise pretty-much wanted nothing more than to kill each other off." The woman gestured at the panorama her wide window afforded. "Looking out at the results of his work, I can't help but feel that I would do _anything_ to keep it from falling to ruin."

Haku waited, watching the Hokage's veiled reflection in the window pane while her heartfelt words tested themselves against his doubts.

"I know a lot more of our history than I'd like to, Constable Okame," Tsunade continued. "It's not all pretty. But just _so you know_," she announced sharply, voice rising as she turned to him suddenly and forcefully with forefinger upraised, "Kakashi Hatake had NOTHING to do with any of this and did NOT get his sharingan so that he could train our hypothetical army of vat-grown Uchihas!" Having gotten that off her ample chest, the Lady Hokage turned back toward the window then added in a quieter tone: "Nor was their clan destroyed in order to pave the way.

"An ARMY of Uchihas," the Fifth Hokage mused aloud, pressed a palm to her forehead and shivered, "heaven and earth! What a clusterf-ck THAT would be. Just a few were trouble enough and just one – never mind. I don't know how much of our dirty laundry anyone can stand to hear in one sitting but I'm getting a little off-track now, aren't I?

"For my part let me just say that I think desperate times are not the times to say 'screw it' to everything you stand for," Tsunade put forth. "And the fact that our Village has lasted this long has to be about more than just strength and luck. With all the times we've been attacked and all the people who've been killed and all the dangers we've faced there has to be a reason why we keep coming back; why we don't just give up. It's because this place is much more than a cluster of buildings hidden in the forest. It's because the people here are united by a common belief in the value of human life, self-determination and a sense of basic decency. Those ideas live in our hearts even if some of us betray the others, and even though the best of us often fall short and sometimes, well…way, WAY off."

The woman laughed with self-depreciation before continuing solemnly: "What we really need is more confidence. When we doubt and get all worked up about the latest threat to our existence, and there's ALWAYS some kind of threat to our existence, we've got a bad habit of making monsters of ourselves."

As Haku folded his arms, moved by what the Lady Hokage had related to him, he couldn't help but guard his distrust. Something Zabuza had always said came back to him: _'Through your actions, your spirit speaks.'_ And it was true. Words were wonderful for any number of things, but in the end it was what you DID that really mattered.

So maybe this project to grow living weapons wasn't Tsunade's fault. Haku could accept that, but ok, what was she willing to DO about it?

"Like I said before," Tsunade confided, this time with greater cheer, "I don't know what the future will bring. But since you were nice enough to give us a second chance; give us those canisters back and not turn them over to someone who'd want to grow their own Uchihas, or sell them on the black market for several million ryo, or tell anyone who might want to use them as an excuse to attack us again, I'll swear to you that as long as I'm Hokage, The Village Hidden in the Leaves WILL be a place governed by hope…and not fear." She raised an eyebrow and looked down at the young shinobi. "So what do you think?"

Haku returned a level glance. "I think I want to know what you're going to do with those containers, and whatever others you might have stashed away."

The woman blinked then nodded slowly. "I should have them all destroyed," she answered plainly then scowled as she shook her head. "Ah, there's going to be all kinds of hell to pay for that."

"No," stated Haku, "you're wrong. Hell is what you were talking about before, with your friends and the people you love dying, having them there one moment and gone the next – that's real hell. What you're talking about now is at best an argument or a fight. I doubt either of those things are new experiences to you." The ninja regrouped then asserted: "I think the people of this village want more from you then to just make sure they don't get killed. They want you to stand for something because you stand for them too, and to keep them safe without making monsters of them."

Haku, satisfied that he'd expressed what he meant as best as he was able to, squinted then at the Hokage's unfazed expression and frowned. "Since you obviously already knew that, I'm afraid I don't understand why you needed me to tell you."

Tsunade turned, stared at the young ninja then couldn't help but laugh. "Who ARE you?"

Haku shrugged and shook his head lightly. "That, Lady Hokage, depends on who you ask."

"I'm sure," said Tsunade with a smirk. "But to answer you: to actually DO what you know you have to is often not that easy. Sometimes a little push is helpful." The woman straightened then headed off her guest's next question. "Our Uchiha program will be destroyed…no matter what anyone has to say about it. And," she added righteously after a pause, "if anyone bitches too much, I'll give 'em my hat and tell them to have at it. Let them be Hokage if they think they're up to it."

Haku smiled first then frowned as he realized he wanted to trust her. Well, if nothing else, at least she'd been willing to hear him out. That in itself was much more, probably, than any other Kage would have done.

"Maybe," the wayward ninja from Wave Country began, taking reluctantly the woman's admonition to favor hope over fear, "Lady Hirai and I did the right thing after all."

Tsunade buoyed the black-haired shinobi with a sly grin. "Even a blind hog gets an acorn every once in awhile, Constable," she quipped then changed tack completely, "Say, why you don't stay around here awhile; rest up a bit before the journey home?"

Haku looked up at her, surprised by the offer. "I appreciate that but I really --. Oh," he recovered late, only now discerning her intentions, "you mean I ought to make myself available long enough for your laboratories to verify what was in those canisters."

"If it's peanut-butter and jelly," said the Hokage, "you're gonna have some SERIOUS explaining to do."

She gestured expressively then opened one of her desk drawers. "Here," Tsunade offered then handed Haku a necklace – a simple cord threaded through a small jade ring that was carved with cryptic characters, "take this. It means you're a visiting V.I.P. and nobody should kill you. Although you still might want to take off that hitai-ate just to be on the safe side. We don't get many visitors from your neck of the woods."

"That's probably wise," Haku agreed, put on the necklace then pocketed his hitai-ate.

"Enjoy your visit," declared Tsunade with arms wide as if she was from the greater Konoha chamber of commerce, "and for giving those canisters back, just between you and me…_thanks a bunch_."

* * *

Haku left Lady Tsunade's office slightly bewildered by the quick wrap-up, closed the door and found himself alone in the corridor just outside. The ninja looked high and low for any sign of any guide or guard then couldn't help but chuckle that a mist-ninja (by appearances anyway) would ever be left alone here in the Hokage's tower, the seat of power in one of the strongest of the Hidden Villages, free to wander completely unsupervised.

"Oh, no, please," he told the air, "I'll find my own way out, thanks."

The newly-come teenager followed his way back along the path Anko had lead him. True to Tsunade's word, the necklace she'd given him really did seem to answer any questions about who he was and what business he had wandering the halls. Only when the faux mist-ninja reached the lobby was he stopped, but even then the guards only questioned him in a relaxed, conversational sort-of way.

Across the street from the Hokage's tower sat one of Konoha's many parks. Haku made his way toward it, sat down on the curb and rested his head in his hands. Although relieved that his mission was finally over, it seemed…somehow anticlimactic, and he still wasn't completely sure if he'd done the right thing.

The Hidden Leaf Village, though far and away a more enlightened place than the Hidden Mist, was not its antithesis. And as things were now the vision of himself making a last, desperate stand alongside an older Chuuya and an older Inari on the storied pavement of the Great Naruto Bridge, defending Wave Country against an oncoming army of artificially-conceived Uchihas came a lot easier to the ninja's mind than he would have liked.

Haku expressed a sigh. On a more personal note, he'd given up thinking that Tsunade's leaving him alone had been an astonishing lapse of security for one of the great Hidden Villages. It was much more likely that she'd simply sized him up and concluded over the course of their short meeting that he wasn't a threat.

_So much for my scary 'Demon's Apprentice' reputation,_ the ninja considered ruefully.

It really was strange how differently different people saw him.

_Ah,_ Haku brightened as he suddenly felt eyes upon him – the unmistakable sense of being watched from somewhere in the trees just behind him and also, yes, there it was, from the rooftops a few blocks away.

_Well, that's some better,_ Zabuza's student consoled himself sardonically. _I'd much rather be spied on then taken for granted._

And of course, this helped explain why the leaf security detail in the lobby had found him so interesting all of a sudden. They'd only been delaying him to give his 'tails' a chance to pick him up.

"Hi," a voice greeted Haku with a sanguine yet somehow serious air. Although it was not nearly as memorable as the man's face, Haku still remembered it.

The young shinobi's downcast eyes drifted over a short stretch of pavement to a pair of standard-issue toeless boots, and ankles wrapped in white. They traveled up familiar midnight-blue, leaf-ninja fatigues worn under a grey, high-collared armored vest covered with pockets and pouches, until they fell upon that face again – a self-assured, handsome face though completely masked below the eyes, only the right of which was visible because the silver-haired jonin's slanting hitai-ate covered the left one.

Thankfully, this time the young ninja's reaction was a bit less acute. Haku blinked then replied, "Hello again, Master Kakashi."

* * *

**Kiba**

"This sucks," brooded Kiba Inuzuka from his overlook low in the trees close to the Hokage's tower.

Akamaru, his white-furred, grey-eared, grey-lipped ninja-hound and close companion, sensed his master's sour mood, made an understanding noise then stretched himself out to lie on Kiba's leg.

"Of all the stupid assignments," the boy grumbled morosely as he stared harder at the guy he was supposed to keep track of – a thin, kinda girly-looking mist-ninja no older than him, who'd just left a meeting with the Hokage then all-but-collapsed on the curb just outside.

Mist-ninja were supposed to be especially nasty pieces of work, but this clown sure didn't seem like much.

Rolling his eyes with boredom and exasperation, a part of Kiba felt that he deserved this. After all, his mission success ratios were not that good. They were better when he was with his regular partners in Team 8, Shino and Hinata, but without them, they kinda sucked. Of course lately he'd been paired up with Naruto and THAT guy was a freaking disaster! But even keeping all that in mind, Kiba couldn't help but think that his personal stats were trying to tell him something about his leaf-ninja abilities…something unpleasant.

Worse by far than all of that though lingered a disgrace so biting that even his mother and sister never spoke of it – that he'd spent the entire Sand and Sound invasion, the most important battle in recent history, face down on the concrete…ASLEEP!

_Unconscious!_ he quickly clarified, _made that way by that mangy traitor, Kabuto._

Despite how reasonable the circumstances seemed it still sounded in his mind like an excuse. And Kiba hated excuses.

A lot of ninja had fought: Chouji's dad, Ino's and Shikamaru's, Hana, his own older sister and Tsume, his mother. They'd all fought. Guy, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Sakura…even Naruto.

_Even Sasuke!_ he yelped inwardly, _even that whining, overrated little bitch got involved before he flipped out, ran away and nearly got us all killed trying to get him back._

The memory seemed bitter now. Although Kiba had been SO proud of how well he'd handled himself against Orochimaru's pet ninja, Sakon and Ukon, with all their disgusting powers, there was no kidding himself that he and Akamaru would've been killed if it wasn't for Kankuro (of ALL people) jumping in to save him. And after all of that they still failed to retrieve the Uchiha.

Kiba's heart sank at the idea that he'd run out of chances. Usually, when he screwed up, Mom and big sister would ride him and ride him about it relentlessly until he vowed never again to do whatever it was he'd done. Lately though, they'd been quiet – way too quiet, like they'd given up on him. And Lady Tsunade's completely NOT-subtle asides seemed to crop up harder and more often too, like threatening to send him back to the academy with all the smelly, whiny, runny-nosed little kids unless his performance shaped up.

Only minutes ago, the crazy woman had summoned him to her office. _'Keep an eye on this visitor. He's a mist-ninja constable from Wave Country named Hiroo Okame.'_

Kiba remembered nodding that he understood, even though as a mission it seemed like a waste of time, then let Akamaru sniff the satchel Okame had brought with him which now carried his scent. The Hokage had then leaned forward with her expression darkening gravely, and Kiba felt the sudden pressure drop as he'd sensed the dark stratocumuli start to swirl over his future. _'If anything, ANY-THING, happens to him, Mr. Inuzuka,'_ Tsunade intoned direly over the flashes of lightning and distant booms of thunder, _'and you'll be pushing a broom.'_

_'—pushing a broom,'_ the Fifth Hokage's harsh words echoed discordantly in the young ninja's head, _**'pushing a broom, PUSHING A BROOM!'**_

Kiba shuddered at the idea then was assailed by a distant vision – Naruto Uzumaki becoming Hokage just like he always boasted, married to Hinata Hyuga with a litter of nine absurdly-beautiful kids together, and poor Kiba sweeping up after the yellow-haired little weirdo's inauguration.

Akamaru felt the sudden ripple of tension and looked up quizzically.

"You'll tear my throat out before that happens, won't you, boy?" begged Kiba.

The little white puppy yawned then gave him a nuanced expression. _'I'm only sensitive to how you feel, dog-boy,'_ it read. _'I'm NOT freakin' telepathic.'_

"Riiiiiiight," Kiba replied, then almost fell out of the tree as he saw Team 7's aloof and slightly mysterious sensei, Kakashi Hatake, stroll up to the fair-faced stranger and start talking to him.

* * *

_And to think I wanted this to be a SHORT chapter! I guess 7,200 words IS short for me. Well, I hope you liked it ;D. As always, all comments, questions, encouragement and criticisms are welcome. Chapter 1 benefited a lot after I edited it with your suggestions in mind._

_Thanks!_

_--Jono'_


	3. Mission to Konohagakure Part 3

_Hi, reader! I'm back. Sorry for the wait. It was a combination of stuff coming up and that this is another loooooooong chapter. I got no shot at winning over anyone attention-span challenged, or anyone who doesn't have, like, an entire afternoon to spend reading ME!_

_Anyway, I hope you like ;)_

**Haku**

"I have to say, _this_ is something of a surprise," remarked Kakashi in a mellow voice that Haku took to be pure, aloof confidence. "I really didn't believe it was you at first."

The young ninja nodded uneasily from where he sat on the curb and said nothing, feeling the weight of their short, shared history pressing upon him. The teenager's grey eyes wandered along the Hidden Leaf Village's friendly and unassuming streetscapes – its storefronts and power-lines, wood-planked fences and posted advertisements; they followed passers-by, other ninja, traders, travelers and townspeople, so as to avoid the sight of the silver-haired man who stood before him – a jonin with powers so vast and daunting that he'd all but destroyed Master Zabuza even with Haku's self-sacrificial intervention.

"How did you survive?"

Haku took in a long, slow breath, certain that he couldn't really have heard concern in the leaf-ninja's question. "It's kind of a long story," muttered Zabuza's former student at last in a labored voice, "but basically I was very lucky."

The sounds around them rattled intrusively. Footsteps on the pavement, fragments of passing conversations, peals of laughter from kids playing in the park beyond, even the whisper of the wind through the trees all seemed to heighten the uneasiness between the two.

Kakashi nodded, put his hands in his pockets then added simply and with a quiet, undeniable sincerity: "I didn't mean to do what I did to you, Haku."

The teenager stared straight ahead then scratched his chest reflexively as the not-so-old wound taunted him with a psychosomatic itch. "I know."

"Having the skills I've learned, I'm fortunate in that I can often avoid having to take someone's life but it's not always possible. I've killed quite a few since I became a ninja, but never anyone I didn't mean to." Kakashi paused and gathered his thoughts. "As far as what happened with your sensei, Zabuza, I think you understand that the paths we chose allowed no other choice. Neither of us could turn back."

Haku nodded. "Zabuza _wanted_ to fight you," he illuminated morosely, "much more than he wanted to kill Tazuna. I'm sure he must have thought that by killing Konoha's famous Copy-Ninja he would restore himself to the man he was – a feared shinobi and revolutionary, the Demon of the Hidden Mist, and not just some…" the teenager hesitated, his voice quavering. The treacherous words of bitter truth he was about say tasted like dirt in his mouth, "…mercenary, reduced to killing for a miserable handful of coins." Haku paused then, taken by a storm of emotions. "Though you may have beaten my Master, you should know that when you faced him he was far from at his best."

Kakashi returned a thoughtful, noncommittal hum then ventured with unexpected delicacy: "Towards the end…I think Zabuza saw for the first time that what was really important in his life wasn't his reputation, his skills or his ambitious plans to take over Kirigakure -- it was you."

The young ninja trembled, crossed his arms and steeled himself against tears. How many had he shed already?

"I've often regretted killing you," continued Kakashi in earnest, "or, I suppose now, the _thought_ that I'd killed you."

Haku shook his head. "It wasn't your fault. I am a shinobi and was more than willing to die to protect Master Zabuza. I knew the sacrifice I was making. You had no reason to regret."

Kakashi seemed like he wanted to say more, to argue the point, but held back. "So," the tall figure observed instead, giving the visitor and his uniform a quick once-over, "are you a ninja of the Mist again? That's a little strange. The Mizukage must be _much_ more forgiving than I'd given him credit for."

"That part's all a little complicated," Haku had to admit. "I'm not really a mist-ninja. I never _was_ one, but I am a real constable now…however strange that sounds."

The jonin nodded then looked calmly skyward. "How's Tazuna?"

The black-haired teenager's eyes went narrow. "Alive," he insisted.

Kakashi glanced down at him with a single, steel-blue eye. "I didn't mean it like that."

"My fault," acknowledged Haku, "I shouldn't have taken it that way." The constable's jaw tightened then as he shifted uneasily back and forth on the curb though none of that improved his comfort. "I guess," the ninja confessed the obvious, "I guess I'm still not quite over what happened as much as I should be, or as much as I'd thought."

Kakashi straightened, walked toward the curb and sat down a pace away from the troubled visitor. "Don't rush it, or force it," he advised and rested his elbows on his knees. "Some things you don't ever get over. And I'm not sure if you're ever supposed to."

Haku looked at the leaf-ninja and recognized from what he could see of the man's partly-concealed face and subtly lugubrious tone that, with all his experience and reputation, he must surely have lost someone dear to him at some point. In their vocation, in this world, such things were inevitable.

"I probably don't have any business asking about the details of your life," continued the silver-haired shinobi after a time, "but I would like to know -- are you happy?"

Haku's eyes rose that the jonin would break down a conversation neither of them were comfortable having to a single, basic question. The teenager thought of his adoptive family, the Tezukas, his young students, Chuuya and Inari, friends like Tazuna and some of the mist-genin, he thought of his position now in the Mist's Wave Country garrison and couldn't help but believe he'd helped to make things better.

Most of all he thought of Mari – the center around which all else revolved.

The young ninja nodded then spared the man a kind look. "Yes, Master Kakashi," he answered cordially. "My new life has its complications, uncertainties and responsibilities, its good moments and its bad, but…yes, I _am_ happy."

"That's good," concluded Kakashi with eyes crinkling and a sympathetic smile evident beneath the snug, midnight-blue fabric of his mask. "I think you deserve it."

The corner of the teenager's lips lifted slightly, begrudgingly, at the affirmation. Haku looked away, then back. "And you?" he felt obliged to ask in return.

Kakashi shrugged, gestured vaguely then quipped in an easy voice: "As much as someone with my somewhat pensive disposition can be I suppose."

Haku nodded. "If it means anything to you," he offered in a more conciliatory tone, "you and your team made a big difference in Wave Country. You stood up for all those people and in the end got them to stand up for themselves. I think things were destined to change there but now they can face those changes with greater confidence, and Gato can no longer hurt them." Haku frowned then scowled, fists clenching, at the foul name of the man who, in the end, had betrayed Zabuza and ordered his army of murderers and thieves to kill him. It made the young ninja remember a deal made between the two – a seemingly simple task which turned out to be the beginning of the end for his master and for his former life. "Zabuza _never _should have taken money from that man."

"You made a difference too, Haku," Kakashi intervened. "Before my team met you they only _thought_ they knew the meaning of sacrifice. Only afterwards did they really understand. And by returning those canisters to us instead of the Mizukage…you probably headed off a war."

The teenager shrugged doubtfully. "Headed off, or only delayed the inevitable?" he mused then continued, unable to hide the resentful thoughts he'd been stewing over for days, ever since Lady Orimi had told him what the mysterious canisters contained: "Your village took cruel advantage of the Uchihas and doubt I even know the half of it. I won't even begin to speculate as to how you obtained those genetic materials from them without their knowing. One can only wonder what else Konoha has in the works." The visitor rubbed his forehead and once again regretted his rash words. Waving his hand as if to dispel them, Haku mollified sourly, "Forget it. I can't really fault you too much; the Mizukage is no better."

Kakashi leaned back then gave the shinobi an appraising look. "You can't fix everything, Haku," stated the leaf-ninja matter-of-factly. "But you did the right thing. With any luck those of us who realize that will be moved to follow your example…and do the right thing too."

Zabuza's former apprentice smirked, not at all encouraged by the jonin's far-reaching optimism. "That seems a bit unlikely," moped Haku, "human nature being what it is."

Kakashi canted his head toward him. "You have to trust in people at some point because in this world what you have the most control over is yourself, your own actions. If you worry about or try to control too much beyond that, _you'll only drive yourself crazy_."

Haku gave the man a measured glance then grunted, unsure of where the jonin was headed with this or what he'd meant by his peculiar inflection.

"You know," ventured Kakashi, suddenly and conspicuously bright and capricious, "you seem way too serious for such a young man. You need to relax a little. You know what helps me?"

Haku cocked a skeptical eyebrow at the rangy, silver-haired jonin then shook his head. "What?"

Kakashi reached into his vest then handed him a manga.

The young ninja's face widened with surprise then screwed as he studied its bright, lurid cover. "Make-out Paradise?" he read aloud then thumbed through a couple of the illustrated booklet's salacious pages. "Should I even be reading this?!" Haku marveled, chuckling, shook his head and tossed it back.

"Not your thing, huh?" allowed Kakashi with a touch of laughter rising in his voice. "Well, that's ok. But you should find some way to get the seriousness of life off your mind every now and then. 'Just some advice."

Now Haku stared. As a sensei, this Kakashi was a very, very different sort than Zabuza Momochi. Zabuza certainly had his quirks too, to be sure, but had never been mysterious. Rarely did anything pass from him without at least a brief explanation and most of what did was self-evident anyway.

At _this_ moment, by contrast, Haku had no earthly idea what had brought this subject to Kakashi's mind and thought that asking would only make him seem obtuse. "Um," he ventured uncertainly to fill the conversational gap, "thank you, Master Kakashi. I'll – I'll keep that in mind."

"Well," the (apparently) one-eyed ninja piped in a carefree tone then rose to his feet. "I'm afraid I'm running a bit late as usual. I'm scheduled to be getting lost on the road of life even as we speak," he remarked half-cryptically then bowed, inquiring in a friendly voice: "No hard feelings, Haku?"

Haku, watching him, shook his head, rose then returned Kakashi's bow. A part of him wanted to hate this man, a lingering sense of obligation to hold the inscrutable leaf-jonin responsible for Zabuza's death whether it made any sense to or not, but: "No hard feelings, Master Kakashi," the young ninja found himself saying then knew at once that he'd done the right thing. Blaming Kakashi Hatake would not serve the present or the future; neither would it honor the past.

When Haku looked again, the masked ninja was gone. The teenager blew out a breath and couldn't help but laugh at the stereotypical exit reminiscent of so many bad martial-arts movies.

Alone now and standing there in the shadow of the Hokage's Tower reminded Haku again just where he was. Since this was the first and probably last time he'd ever find himself in Konohagakure no Sato, the ninja drew a bracing breath then concluded that he might as well make the most of it and see all he could.

* * *

**Mari**

Pulling her wheeled cart behind her with it's assortment of tools, spare clothing and equipment, Mari Tezuka trudged uphill along the familiar, forested trail. Behind her, leaping and running back and forth through the trees, the girl's younger brother, Chuuya and his friend, Inari, followed in a more-or-less continuous whirlwind of noise and movement.

_Ugh_, the lean, black-haired girl lamented then wiped her freckled face. The boys' shouts and cries, sometimes cheery, sometimes strident, was grating on her nerves and she was starting to regret Haku's decision to train them.

Mari looked up in time to see the hyperactive pair bound past her at speeds she thought absurd, cut back across the road then crash into the underbrush all but disappearing from sight.

_Aren't ninjas supposed to be f-ckin' QUIET?_ she asked herself sourly. _Haku's quiet, why the hell can't you be like HIM?_

Chuuya had only been the former fugitive's disciple for about eight months and yet the changes were almost frightening – to see a silly, easily-distracted and unmotivated little kid rise every day before dawn to go running, practice his chakra-building forms, or march down into the basement to strike the fronts and backs of his hands against beanbags a thousand times or more then continue on with multiple series' of wrist-curls and push-ups on his fists and fingertips.

Having broken BOTH wrists just a few days apart, right around what Wave Country's townspeople now called the Second Battle at the Bridge, Chuuya had sworn never to let that happen again and had adopted a punishing regimen of exercises to strengthen his hands and forearms. Watching him and Inari slam their arms against each others' in a painful-looking drill they called 'wu shing chow-so' (or something like that) had been fairly startling. Watching Chuuya practice alone against a power pole or on one of the basement's steel columns when his friend wasn't available had been ever more so.

Mari, in light of all this, had asked Haku if maybe the kids were overdoing it but the ninja only smiled and assured her that it was all pretty normal and that Chuuya and Inari's training was actually FAR less intense than his own had been under Zabuza.

For a long while Mari had almost thought her little brother was wasting his time, then one day he corralled her, cried 'watch this!' and took off running, traveling much faster then she'd seen him or anyone else run before. Haku explained later that Chuuya had finally gotten the hang of letting the chakra he'd been so diligently developing flow through his body when he moved – and so it was nothing now for the boy to run like an antelope or jump clear over an eight-foot fence from a standing start.

Mari remembered almost falling over the first time she'd seen him do that. This kinda stuff just wasn't NORMAL, especially when it was someone she knew (besides Haku) doing it.

For all his training though, Chuuya was still kind of pudgy probably because he ate what seemed like his own body-weight in food daily. The only real outward change she noticed was that his forearms had gotten more muscular and were thicker now than his upper arms which were still pretty lean. That combined with his normally large, round head made the proportions of the eleven-year-old's little body look even more ungainly.

_If such a thing's possible,_ Mari commented wryly to herself.

Of course, the girl considered, there were plenty of good things about Chuuya's training. Being that he was so occupied, he was bugging people a lot less and not getting into fights or loud arguments with his older brothers or her as much.

And Inari? Inari, Mari had to admit, was a good kid. He'd kind of gotten off to a bad start with her, but Tazuna's grandson had quickly made up for that and seemed to be turning into a good friend for her little brother who was in desperate need of one.

They could tolerate each other, for the most part, which spoke volumes about their characters.

"OW!" Mari heard Inari yelp behind her, shook her head with exasperation and thought: _not again._

"What!?" answered Chuuya's defensive voice.

"Not so hard! It's just practice!"

"I hardly touched you! OW! Whudja do THAT for?! "

Mari blew out a breath then turned around just in time to watch Inari duck Chuuya's looping counter-retaliatory swat then spring head-first hard into her bother's rounded stomach. Chuuya crumpled breathlessly and the ensuing fight went to the ground. The girl watched the two wrestle furiously for a few minutes, rolling one way, then another, back and forth over the dirt road until they settled into a stalemate of sorts – Inari with a fistful of Chuuya's black hair, and Chuuya cruelly pinching Inari's trapezius muscle with his surprisingly strong grip. Both faces were red with exertion and agony, but both were just as fiercely unwilling to concede.

"Really," Mari muttered with caustic impatience as she marched up on the two.

Pressing the heel of her right hand behind the long bone of Inari's gripping thumb, she captured the tip with her fore and middle fingers then squeezed. While doing that, she hooked inside Chuuya's grimacing mouth with the forefinger of her left hand and jerked back hard. Both moves would have gotten her disqualified in any wrestling ring, and the two boys parted as if by an explosion.

"HEY!" screeched Chuuya belligerently in his piercing, boat-whistle voice once he'd come to his feet, fists balled and sweaty, young face constricted with righteous anger. His oversized evergreen-colored t-shirt and knee-length grey shorts were caked tan with dust and streaked with grass stains. "What was THAT for!?"

"Yeah!" agreed an equally petulant Inari who rested on his knees, nursing his thumb. The boy's teal overalls worn over a white turtleneck were in just as bad a shape, and it was almost strange to see him without his signature floppy white hat which had come off during the fray.

Mari straightened imperially, glared then pointed at the both of them. "'Cause you guys were being DICKS!"

Chuuya sputtered indignantly, shocked at this unfair and unfounded allegation.

"What? You know you were," the older girl restated dramatically before her brother could work up an even bigger head of steam, then pivoted tactically: "And if you keep it up I'm gonna tell Sensei."

The boys' eyes widened for a moment before they both fell bitterly and resentfully silent.

Victorious, Mari smirked, turned around then sauntered away quite pleased with herself. Threatening to tell her mom and dad, or even Tazuna or Tsunami, was an empty threat and both Chuuya and Inari knew it. But telling Haku, their master and sensei, THAT was fair game and there was not one damn-thing either of them could do about it.

And none of this was new. Mari knew the drill by heart. Chuuya and Inari would commiserate for awhile about what a MEAN sister she was, they'd forget about what ridiculous thing they were fighting about, and things would go back to normal…for at least another ten minutes.

* * *

A little further down the trail, where it bent, Mari looked off through the trees and decided to visit her boyfriend's grave since she was passing so close to it anyway. She was kind of sentimental like that.

Haku, though technically a notorious criminal had in death gained a bit of a cult following, having 'risen from the grave' once before, frustrating the mist-ninja team pursuing him, then coming to Wave Country's defense before being killed again during his final showdown with the ANBU at the Second Battle at the Bridge. That was the quasi-official story most accepted as true.

Since Haku and his master Zabuza were the only real 'famous' people ever to die dramatically in the Land of Waves and had played a part in freeing the country from Gato's tyranny, there were often flowers, votives, candles and other interesting offerings left at their gravesites to appease their spirits or in some cases plea for their intercession as if they were patron saints. For whatever reason, the widely-known fact that both graves were empty didn't seem to dampen anyone's enthusiasm for these rituals.

But as Mari entered the clearing, a tranquil overlook encompassed by trees, she saw immediately that something was wrong. "Aw, no!" she muttered aloud and stopped short in alarm.

Chuuya and Inari rushed protectively to her side. "What's wrong, Mari," her brother asked alertly, did a double-take, then gaped.

Zabuza's sword, which had been planted into the earth to mark what had been his final resting place before the ANBU had disinterred and processed his body, was now missing.

The two boys sped to the yet-again-violated grave then split toward the clearings edges and stared hard into the surrounding woods as if the perpetrator might still be at hand…scampering away with the Demon of the Hidden Mist's ridiculously-large sword.

"Who do ya think took it?" ventured Inari desolately, his dark eyes somber beneath the brim of his hat as he rejoined Mari and Chuuya by the two graves.

Mari sighed, raised her arms and let them fall to her sides. "I don't know," she offered honestly, "some idiot who thought it looked 'cool' I guess." The girl paced away and looked down the hill's steep, wooded, western slope at the bustling village down below with its web-work of scaffolds and towering construction cranes, then out toward the sea-channel and the Great Naruto Bridge. "Maybe it's in the window of some pawn shop somewhere," suggested Mari, "who knows."

"Ya think Sensei'll be mad?" asked Chuuya in a worried voice.

"I don't think he'll freak out or anything," Mari answered him, "but he won't be happy. People he cares about a lot, things – not so much."

"How could somebody just TAKE Zabuza's sword?" Inari wondered aloud.

Mari nodded in sympathy and walked back toward them. Having lived all her fifteen years in Wave Country, long before the recent reversals of its perilous fortunes, she had already accepted the loss. "I doubt we'll ever know. Unless you guys see it at next week's flea market, it's probably gone for good. It's probably hanging over somebody's fireplace by now."

Chuuya's face went red with anger at the idea. "If I ever find the guy," he hissed, "I'm gonna give him a big face-full of Cannon Fist!"

Inari, his expression less emotional but equally serious, nodded at the sentiment.

"How come _you_ guys are so upset?" Mari asked them. "You know how it is around here -- people steal stuff. Not as much as they used to but still. And anyway, it wasn't like it was your sword."

"In a way it was," Inari, who was often the more reasonable of the two, quickly explained. "What Haku-sensei's teaching us, HE learned from Zabuza."

"Yeah," added Chuuya, riffing off his training-brother's logic. "So Zabuza's kind of like our grand-master."

Mari's expression shifted. "I didn't think about it like that," she allowed. "Ok, well, maybe you guys should put up a new marker to replace the stolen sword. What do you think?"

Both boys looked up at her, surprised and impressed by her insight, then nodded at its propriety.

Mari smiled. She really didn't 'get' the whole ninja thing, but was happy that she was able to connect with these guys this one time about something they cared about so deeply. The girl then went over then to Haku's grave which, thankfully, was as she remembered it.

"Wow," she startled then bent down before its humble wooden cross, having spied something unusual amidst the offerings. Clearing away husks of now-desiccated fruit, dried flower petals and stems, Mari patiently revealed what lay underneath. "Wow!" she remarked again and held the artifact up in the leaf-dappled sunlight – a small, ancient china plate, a precious thing with scalloped edges inlaid with a pattern of blue and gold scales. In the middle was a colored drawing of a tall, regal white bird and a red and gold fish -- as splendid an artwork as the girl had ever seen.

The two boys were quick to notice, rushed up behind Mari and gaped. "No way! Hey! Look at that! Let ME see! Is that real gold?" they gushed collectively.

"I've sure never seen anything like this," commented Mari, rising thoughtfully as she studied the plate while fending off Chuuya and Inari.

After a few minutes of this the girl turned and barked out an order: "Men!" she commanded with the gravity of a dowager empress. "I have a mission for you."

Chuuya and Inari exchanged glances then played along, dropping to one knee. "Yes, Lady Mari!"

"Your task is to transport this valuable saucer back home and put it somewhere safe so that Haku can look at it when he gets back. But be careful!" she warned with a theatrical flourish, her dark eyes darting left and right. "As we've seen, there are thieves everywhere, bandits, enemy ninja and whatnot. And don't break it either 'cause it looks really, uh, breakable."

"We will not fail!"

Inari took the saucer from her and cradled it carefully into his chest. The two boys then sprang off – not quite vanishing in a burst of speed or a whirling wind like Haku could, but fast enough to suggest the idea which was terrifying enough.

"Well, that got 'em out of my hair for a little while anyway," said Mari with a thankful smile once she was alone. The girl then walked back to her cart, shook her head and muttered with great aggravation, "_ninjas_."

* * *

**Kiba**

For the better part of two hours after the surpassingly-strange Kakashi Hatake had departed, Kiba Inuzuka trailed Hiroo Okame as the mist-ninja meandered his way around the village – viewing some of its training ranges, open-air markets, gardens, parks and overlooks, and milling randomly among its people. The visitor strolled with what seemed like more than usual interest around the clan compound of the Hyuuga and the lonely, abandoned precincts of the Uchiha then paused for quite awhile at a quiet vantage just to gaze up at the four Hokages' massive, stone faces.

The deeply-annoyed, deeply-bored, chestnut-haired leaf-ninja scowled then shook his shaggy head. "What's WRONG with this guy, Akamaru?" said Kiba to the white puppy whose short-snouted, canine face peered out just under the genin's from inside his cloudy-gray hooded jacket, with paws hooked over the collar. "I've never seen such a DULL ninja in my life, walking around like some tourist." Kiba glared again down at Okame then adjusted his hitai-ate. "And he's supposed to be some big-shot from Kirigakure? Ya gotta be kidding me!"

Things only got progressively worse over the course of the next hour as Okame lead Kiba up one of Konoha's streets then down another, up and down, up and down, block after tiresome block, to where he stopped suddenly outside the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

From the parapet of an adjacent building, Kiba watched Okame cup his hands against the window and peer inside interestedly for a few moments before going in.

The young ninja rolled his dark eyes and frowned.

_At least,_ he offered himself in consolation, _this is ONE mission I can put in the 'win' column. It's not like anyone's gonna attack this guy out of the blue in downtown Konoha, especially wearing that necklace the Hokage gave him._

"Huh," snorted Kiba confidently, one of his pointed canines denting his lower lip as he grinned.

Just the feeling of being on a mission, even a dumb 'D'-rank like this one, made him feel better than he had earlier. "Man, I can't believe I let Lady Tsunade bring me down," he said. "I mean, she gets up in _everybody's_ crack like that."

"Rarf!" piped Akamaru agreeably.

"And Mom and Hana…they'd NEVER just give up on me," the ninja stated surely. "They wouldn't let me off that easy. And if I was suckin' THAT bad somebody would've told me by now; definitely Kurenai-sensei."

_Still,_ thought Kiba, _maybe this a good wake-up call. I mean, I've always been pretty strong, pretty fast and good at most of the stuff I had to be. But that's just not good enough against the serious guys I've been going up against lately. That traitor, Kabuto, took me out before I even knew what was going on. And I was really, really lucky against Sakon and Ukon, and still almost lost Akamaru…then almost lost him again when that spy infected him with a virus. I'm having WAY too many close calls._

"When we get done with this, Akamaru, we're really gonna have to get extra-serious. Y'know?"

The little ninja-hound raised an eyebrow and looked up at him.

"Definitely," Kiba confirmed. "Between Mom and Kurenai-sensei, they'll know what we got to do to kick it up a level and it's NOT gonna be fun or easy. But if we don't," he expressed in a softer, though grimmer voice, "then we'll just end up having more failed missions, we might lose each other, or we'll keep getting stuck with stupid, kid-stuff assignments like this." The ninja patted Akamaru's short-furred head at which the pup closed his eyes and smiled the way only dogs do. "But it'll be good for us in the long run. And I know Shino and Hinata will help us train, won't they boy?!"

"Hrar-rarf!"

The boy laughed, encouraged once again by his friend's reliable zeal. "That's the spirit!"

Kiba looked up then as Okame exited the flower shop carrying a wrapped box. "What the hell is this?" he muttered in disbelief. "Is he gonna get some postcards too? How 'bout a t-shirt?"

The young ninja started to laugh but stopped short as his keen, lupine eyes darted towards a distant movement at the edge of his vision. "Huh," he grumbled hesitantly. Of course this was Konohagakure so there were ninja everywhere, but it still seemed weird to Kiba that there'd be anyone else getting a line-of-sight on the guy HE was supposed to watch.

* * *

**Haku**

Haku, with purchase in hand, strolled down the street with absolutely nothing to do and nowhere specifically to go, wandering randomly and reflecting on all he'd seen so far, until the enticing aromas of food cooking made his eyes bug and his stomach rumble brutally. He hadn't eaten a thing since breakfast and that hadn't been much. All the excitement of visiting Konoha and the anxiety he'd felt carrying those canisters had put off his appetite which was now reasserting itself and making up for lost time.

The ninja marched straight in to the restaurant, not even taking the time to note its name, slid into a booth then ordered eagerly the moment the waitress arrived. Minutes later he was digging into a hot bowl of cooked rice, fragrant beef and sautéed vegetables flavored with chili-pepper paste and topped with a fried egg.

Only when he was almost finished with his meal did the ninja check his pouches in a panic to see if he had enough commonly-accepted ryo left over from what he'd spent at the flower shop to cover the check. Being that his new home in the Land of Waves was a port-of-call along many trade routes, Haku had collected minor sums of five different kinds of currency maybe none of which was held any value here.

_I really need to keep better track of my change,_ he promised himself as he flagged down the waitress, a worried grin crossing his face as he spread out what he had over part of the table.

The woman returned a merciful smile and helped him with the exchange.

Haku, thankful and relieved that he wouldn't have to wash dishes, get thrown out or spend a night in jail, finished his meal in peace then sat back to rest awhile and enjoy some green tea.

Turning his attention then to the box by his side, the teenager smiled proudly that he'd thought to get Mari a present. Inside were blooms held in an arrangement with copper wire. They were fairly small, durable enough to travel, but quite pretty and found only in Fire Country.

Part of the young ninja's reason was simply that he'd been thinking about her. But then too Mari hated some of the demands of Haku's profession and he thought a memento like this would assuage her feelings a bit about his periodic absences…or at least take the edge off which was probably the best he could realistically hope for.

The visitor had just finished the last of his tea and was getting ready to leave, not wanting to keep the ninjas outside following him waiting too long, when a familiar voice caught his ear and he looked up sharply. Haku tracked snatches of a nearby conversation to a particular shade of deep-hued red – a knee-length red dress piped with silver, worn by a girl with hair a flowery shade of pink.

_Sakura,_ the lone shinobi remembered immediately, _Sakura Haruno._

The girl sat opposite the aisle-way with her back to him just two booths down, sharing her table with a pretty, if slightly edgy-looking, pony-tailed blond in a striking, sleeveless purple outfit with a leaf-ninja's hitai-ate worn around her tapered waist.

The two were engaged in an animated conversation about so many things that Haku couldn't quite follow the odd word or two he caught over the voices of the other diners.

Haku's grey eyes stole towards what he could see of Sakura's face, and he noted that her singularly-colored hair was much shorter than it had been last time.

_What would she do if she knew you were here?_ the ninja sat back and wondered, cupping his chin between fingers and thumb. _She probably wouldn't be very happy, _he answered himself, _considering what you did to her friends._

Haku looked down into his empty teacup then back at her again. _But she's sitting right there,_ the teenager considered. _Don't you think it's a little ill-mannered to just walk away as if you hadn't seen her?_

The constable shook his head then let out a breath. _What's there to say? And just how many awkward conversations do you plan on having today?_ he asked himself._ Besides, out of all the leaf-ninja who came to Wave Country, Naruto was the only one I spoke with at any length and I obviously didn't make much of an impression on him. Any words I exchanged with Sasuke Uchiha were perfunctory at best, and I don't recall anything at all between me and Sakura._

Haku's eyes rose thoughtfully as he arrived then at the easier, more comfortable decision: _Maybe it's better to just move on._

At exactly that moment, Sakura's companion, the blond kunoichi's luminous, blue-green eyes flickered up, locked on Haku, flashed alertly then fell away as if she hadn't seen.

Haku winced, his fingers tapping an annoyed drumbeat against the tabletop. Of course, how could she NOT notice some stranger staring so intently at her friend like some kind of stalker or something?

Stung by his inexcusable artlessness, Haku shook his head then looked back in time to see the girl inform Sakura. At least that's what the teenager inferred judging by her body language, in the way she tilted forward with a secretive expression of import on her eager face. _'That guy in the booth behind you is checking you out',_ he could all but hear. Reading lips was not one of Haku's many skills but in this case it really didn't have to be.

Sakura started to turn to see for herself but her companion caught her.

Rolling the tip of his tongue around the inside of his cheek, Haku reconsidered his options. He couldn't just leave now because that would be like he was running away plus it would leave Sakura to wonder just who the hell was staring at her, and that wouldn't do.

Reluctantly, Haku conceded, swallowed his nervousness and rose, remembered to take his present then went to the girls' table.

Again with the lip-reading: _'Sakura! He's coming OVER!'_

"Hello," Haku bowed and greeted the yellow-haired girl with as much easy-going pleasantness as he was capable of at that moment, then turned to Sakura. "Hello, Miss Haruno. I saw you sitting here and thought I should at least say 'hi'."

Sakura looked up, her appealing, fair-featured face and emerald eyes below a high, intelligent forehead was just as Zabuza's former student remembered. The girl's forced, carefree expression faded then and she just stared…and stared at him.

"Although," the visiting ninja allowed, his gaze flickering uncertainly, "I'll understand if you'd rather I didn't…or if you don't remember."

The bluish-green eyes of Sakura's blond companion shot back and forth curiously between her friend and the stranger, unsure of the dynamic, until at last the pink-haired girl's face lit with shock and she gasped, "Haku?!"

The teenager canted his head with a sheepish shrug.

"Ah!" piped the blond, "so you two KNOW each other!" With the sure movements of both a dancer and a bouncer the girl flew from her seat, hustled Haku into the booth, then slid back in beside him.

Haku wobbled once as he came to rest then looked blankly at Sakura who looked blankly back. Both then turned to look at Sakura's friend who waited with a sly, patient smile on her face.

"Oh, uh, no, Ino," explained Sakura anxiously with a nervous smile and a light flush coming to her cheeks. "It's not like that."

Haku, just now catching on, joined with matching vigor, "We're just…well, we haven't seen each other in awhile. But no, it's not like that."

"No?" said Ino, her brow narrowing with disappointment. "Well I don't know why NOT, Sakura," she advanced critically, brushed a stylish drapery of golden hair from her face, looked Haku up and down then drew up closer to him. "He's kinda cute!"

The visiting constable's face flushed. "Ah…I'm flattered you think so, but I'm, uh, I'm afraid I'm attached," the ninja demurred, then picked up his boxed present as if it was proof. "See?"

The blond girl stared at the present then back at him, her expression melting. "Aw, that's so sweet." Ino looked over at Sakura meaningfully. "He's LOYAL too," she gushed then leaned into Haku and looked him right in the eyes. "You know that only makes you MORE attractive, right?"

The young shinobi sputtered for a reply.

Sakura forced a laugh then continued, "Listen, ah, Ino," she began then made a sort of abstract circling motion with her hands, "would you mind…?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going," her friend relented. "Anyway, it was nice meeting you; Haku, right?"

"Uh, right," answered Haku with a sideways glance toward Sakura.

"See you around sometime, Haku," finished Ino, who pushed herself from the booth. "I'll catch ya later, Sakura." She'd only gone a couple of steps when she turned right around, leaned close to her friend and whispered insistently: "I expect DETAILS."

Once Ino had gone, for real this time, it took the remaining two a few moments to acclimate.

Sakura smiled nervously, a little guarded. "Sorry about that," she offered. "Ino's nice but she can be," the girl made a face as she struggled for the right way to say it, "a little much sometimes."

"No, it's a…it's fine," Haku replied. "Fine."

"I…," Sakura went on, momentarily at a loss. "I can't believe it. You look so different in that uniform and the shorter hair. And I really thought you were, well, we ALL thought you were --!" she looked up at him clearly not wanting to say it, "you know."

"I was, I suppose, or as close as anyone can get."

The girl shook her head in disbelief. "How did you…?"

"It's a long story," the visiting teenager summarized awkwardly.

Sitting there in front of Sakura was difficult and he'd known it would be, for nothing that had happened in the last eight months could erase the fact that when they'd last met he and his master had tried to murder an honorable and knowledgeable old man.

Though Kakashi and his team of genin had been hired too, to protect Tazuna, there was little doubt as to who commanded the moral high ground – who was right and who was wrong.

"For what happened the last time we met…I'm sorry," offered Haku in painful admission. "It was not my wish to hurt any of you or Tazuna either. It's just," he paused and frowned, "it wasn't up to me."

"That part we figured out," said Sakura in an understanding voice. "And you could have killed the bridge-builder, Naruto, Sasuke, and me too I suppose, but you didn't. If anything I should thank you."

Haku grinned tightly, not having expected to be let off the hook so easily, but said nothing. That battle, the First Battle at the Bridge, had torn him – pitted his loyalty to Zabuza against his own nature. It was a battle he'd both won and lost.

The pink-haired girl smiled then saved him from the lingering, complicated memories. "So are you really 'attached'?" she inquired demurely, throwing a playful look towards his present. "I wouldn't blame you if you just said that. Ino _was_ coming on a little strong."

Haku's eyes lifted. "Yes, as it happens."

"What's her name?"

"Mari," he answered.

"What's she like?"

The ninja's face broke into a smile. "Strong," Haku almost blurted, "fiery, spontaneous…kind, and very pretty."

"Ha!" concluded Sakura delightedly, "it's love."

Haku's brow lifted and he couldn't help but smile wider at the girl's judgment. "How can you be so sure from just that?"  
"It's all there in your face. I can tell," offered Sakura with a sagacious air. "So does she love you too?"

The young ninja hesitated at first then nodded. "It's hard to speak for another, especially about matters of the heart, but yes, I believe so. When I think about it, I don't think she would have done or said quite a number of the things she's done and said if she was not."

Sakura smiled. "I'm glad to hear that," she offered then looked at him again and piped: "This is just so unbelievable! What are you doing here? I guess, since you're wearing that necklace, you didn't sneak in." The pink-haired kunoichi looked at him again. "That's quite a change of clothes too."

"I suppose it is," Haku agreed, assessing his current standard-issue mist-ninja fatigues against the jade robe, ANBU mask and hakima-style black pants he favored during his years as Zabuza's apprentice or the dresses he favored when on his own time. "I don't know if you've heard this but the Hidden Mist Village has a compliment of ninja garrisoned in Wave Country." He turned his shoulder to display the wave emblem on the sleeve. "The reasons why would take awhile to explain, but I am one of the new provisional magistrate's constables. Just by chance, she needed me to deliver something to the Hokage."

"Hmm, that doesn't sound good – the Mist having ninja stationed in Wave Country, I mean," replied Sakura with a touch of concern evident in her voice. "How's it going over there? And how are Tazuna, Tsunami and Inari. They're ok, aren't they?"

"They're all fine," Haku reassured her and smiled. "We're on good terms now if you can believe it. Wave Country's changed a lot. You'd hardly recognize the place anymore with all the new buildings and all the people the construction's brought in. It's a boom town. As far as Kirigakure's involvement, well, it's still an occupation – though a benign one so far. Oh, I probably should have said earlier, almost everybody thinks I'm dead. I'm going under the name Hiroo Okame now."

The girl's lips thinned thoughtfully and Haku realized he'd kind of given her a lot to digest in a few short sentences. "I know," he kidded her to lighten the mood, "it's not that great a name. But how have you been this last year, Sakura?"

The girl's brilliant, green eyes flickered then sank. "It's…it's been hard," she began then shifted self-consciously, dropping both hands into her lap. "Not too long after we got back from Wave Country, I took the chunin exams for the first time. My team did ok, but I didn't make it past the single combats."

Haku nodded. Things like 'exams' and 'graduations' were concepts he understood, but having never undergone them personally (at least in the classic sense) kept them somewhat abstract in his mind. "Your opponent must have been fierce," he assumed on her behalf.

"Actually," explained Sakura, who rolled her eyes towards the door, "she just left."

The ninja grinned cleverly as he picked up on her tone. Obviously Naruto and Sasuke was not the _only_ rivalry in Konoha. "I wish I could have seen it."

The kunoichi waved her hand. "You'd have just been bored. I'm not like some of the others, really powerful, with crazy powers and jutsu or really at home in a fight." Sakura's face fell guiltily. "You probably remember I didn't exactly contribute much on our Wave Country mission."

Haku looked back at her curiously and shrugged. "I don't see what you mean," he said. "Kakashi ordered you to guard Tazuna and that's what you did."

"While Kakashi-sensei, Naruto and Sasuke did all the heavy lifting," Sakura continued unhappily. "About all I could do was cheerlead."

Haku's lips pressed into a line then the ninja shook his head. "Those two would much rather have died than failed with the other around to witness it; I've thought about that part a lot over the last few months. Their rivalry pushed them to extremes I never would have guessed; that I didn't think were possible. It's unfair to compare yourself to them that way. And just so you know," the ninja went on, remembering a detail he thought might put things in perspective, "in my time as his disciple I've seen highly-skilled ninja, trained soldiers and even ANBU veterans, drop their weapons and run before Zabuza Momochi, but you held your ground. No one should find fault with you, yourself least of all."

Sakura's expression froze for a moment before she blinked and grinned. "Thanks, Haku…uh, Hiroo."

The ninja shrugged off her praise.

Both paused then as the waitress arrived. Sakura poured briefly through the menu then ordered.

"Dare I ask," ventured Haku when she had gone, "how is Naruto?"

"Full of surprises!" the kunoichi answered immediately, her expression animated by a cornucopia of conflicting emotions. "It always amazes me how much that yellow-haired idiot's changed, AND how much he's stayed just the same."

The visitor from Wave Country smirked at how apt her reply seemed and how affectionate her disparaging words came out said the way she'd said them. Haku inquired keenly, "You don't know if he's around do you?"

Sakura's eyes rose in thought. "He's kinda hard to keep track of; been doing a lot of fill-in missions lately."

Haku nodded, hiding his disappointment.

"I'd love to see the look on his face when he sees YOU again, though."

"I doubt he remembers," said the ninja offhandedly as he shook his head. "If anything he'd probably be mad at me for sticking him with so many senbon. Most people take that kind of personally…or so I assume."

Sakura shook her head. "I wouldn't worry. It's not like him to hold a grudge."

Haku looked away then back. "And what of your other teammate, Sasuke? I've no doubt that he must be --," he started to inquire then stopped short at the distressed look that came immediately to Sakura's face. "I'm sorry," the black-haired teenager offered at once in contrition, fearing that Rock Lee's report about the Uchiha's survival might not have been accurate. "I didn't mean to --. I just thought that --."

"It's alright," the kunoichi replied though her expression was overtaken by gloom. "It's just…Sasuke's left the village. He's a fugitive now, a rogue ninja."

The ninja's eyes widened with surprise. "I-I can hardly believe it," he muttered, remembering how committed the Uchiha had seemed when they'd fought. "Why?" Haku asked. "Do you have any idea?"

"He left to become the disciple of a very powerful ninja-lord named Orochimaru, the same one who was behind the Sand and Sound's attack. He left so he could learn what he needs to avenge himself on the man who destroyed his clan -- his older brother, Itachi."

Haku's brain flooded him with the Uchiha clan's storied and murky past, a past that corkscrewed through history until it arrived unceremoniously in the present in the form of two canisters – one black and one white. "I'm sorry," the ninja offered. "It must have been hard."

"It was…and is," admitted Sakura seriously. "But I don't exactly have any right to complain. How could I? It's not like he ever kept what he wanted to do a secret." Tension ebbed from her as she remembered something then recounted: "Actually, that was one of the very first things I ever heard him say – that he 'wanted to kill a certain someone'."

The girl paused then added with a flourish of self-recrimination, "But I was too busy falling hopelessly in love with who I wanted him to be, completely ignoring who he WAS. That's kind of selfish, isn't it?" Sakura concluded – a thought that seemed to Haku that she might have considered a thousand times but never voiced before. "I wonder sometimes…if only I could have been a better friend, if things wouldn't have turned out differently.

"I'm sorry," the young kunoichi blurted and forced a smile, "all that's a lot more than you really wanted to hear."

Haku, disconcerted a little by her admission, bit his lip.

Zabuza and those who'd orbited him rarely yielded such insights to their thoughts, feelings and regrets. It was only, really, since he'd lived apart from him that he'd discovered that many others did. Having little experience in this area, Haku determined to at least try and be helpful. Often that was enough.

"There's no point in second-guessing," he proposed. "I spent a long time doing that myself.

"I don't think it could have been easy for Sasuke being an Uchiha, with the burdens that lineage carries, some obvious and others subtle…and then, added to that, the tragedy of what happened to his family." Haku opened his mouth to speak but found himself lost in a growing sense kinship with the unfortunate Sasuke – someone so much like himself who shared the blood-gift and who'd had his family taken from him, a fugitive. The idea that he'd _fought_ Sasuke almost made him sick.

"I'm sorry," said Haku when he was able to. "I just meant to say that if he felt so strongly about avenging his clan that he'd abandon his village and all his friends then I doubt there could have been anything you might have said or done to stop him." Again he stopped as his mind flashed over the words Kakashi had said to him not hours earlier. The confluence of it all was starting to make his head hurt. "Take from what happened what you can and let it help you," Haku concluded firmly. "That's the best thing you can do now."

Sakura smiled sadly and nodded. "I guess I forgot – how much _you've_ been through."

The young shinobi smiled thankfully at the girl's sympathy. "After my master's death, it was hard for me. Zabuza was my whole world," mused Haku. "But, in time, I discovered…there were others."

* * *

For awhile longer the two sat in their booth and talked, Sakura having lunch while Haku ordered tea and told her in greater detail about how things had changed in Wave Country, along with the more palatable and appropriate stories he could relate about his time as Zabuza's Apprentice.

In between bites, Sakura described some of the adventures she'd had as well as her current apprenticeship to Lady Tsunade.

After she was finished and they'd talked awhile longer, the two left together, waiting until they were outside to say their goodbyes.

"Oh, Sakura," said Haku, who almost forgot to ask, "I'm being followed. Do you see the man atop the building behind me over my left shoulder, small, light-grey hooded jacket with black fur around the rim?"

The pink-haired girl gave a casual, passing look in that direction then smiled. "Oh, don't worry," she offered with complete confidence. "That's just Kiba and Akamaru."

Haku's eyes lit. "Ah, so there're two of them?"

"Almost," agreed Sakura with a friendly giggle. "Akamaru is Kiba's ninja-hound, but he's just an adorable little puppy right now."

"I see," said the young constable with an understanding nod. "And they're friends of yours?"

The girl shrugged. "Classmates anyway. We never really hung out very much and hardly ever got teamed up for any missions…but Kiba's nice, I promise. Lady Tsunade probably told him to keep you out of trouble."

"You're probably right."

"I should get going," said Sakura reluctantly. "I'll be in really, really big trouble if I'm late."

Haku nodded, understanding completely. "If you're ever in Wave Country --," he offered.

"— I'll know not to make any trouble!" Sakura quipped, smiled and winked playfully.

Haku laughed then bowed, almost knocking her in the head as she came forward to hug. Haku, embarrassed, then tried to hug her and their roles reversed. At last, Sakura simply offered him her hand, which he took.

"Take care, Sakura."

"You too," she said then whispered, "Haku."

* * *

**Kiba**

The hooded genin leaned forward on the parapet, staring hard like a vulture at the exchange he'd just witnessed on the street down below.

"Did you --?" he sputtered angrily and pointed. "Did you SEE that, Akamaru?! This girly-looking string-bean's in town like five minutes and he's already got a DATE?!"

Kiba stalked away from the rooftop's edge then paced back and forth, grumbling under his breath.

"Bouw?" offered Akamaru, who jumped down from the parapet, sat and wagged his tail, trying seemingly to be helpful.

"I'm NOT interested in Sakura and anyway that's got nothing to do with it." The leaf-ninja crossed his arms and sulked then rushed back to watch Sakura and Okame part ways. Stepping back, Kiba asked: "so what's THIS guy got that I haven't got? Huh? I mean, **I'M** cute, right?"

The little ninja-hound looked up at him and cocked his head.

"Ah, you're no help at all," brayed Kiba disappointedly and gave the dog a dismissive wave. His eyes snapped up then as two ninja materialized on the rooftop a few paces away, wearing the grey armored vests and zodiac masks of the Hidden Leaf Village's ANBU corps.

"Excuse us," greeted one sarcastically. "I hope we're not interrupting."

Kiba scowled, utterly unimpressed, folded his arms then growled: "So what the hell do you a--holes want?"

* * *

_Hehehe. I really do TRY to max out at 6,000 words ;) If you made it this far, I appreciate your patience and definitely, definitely hope you liked this latest chapter._

_Please leave a review and let me know what you think._

_Thanks!_

_--Jono'_

* * *


	4. Mission to Konohagakure Part 4

_Hi again. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving and that you like my new chapter._

_--Jono'_

* * *

**Kiba**

With his brow darkened by the sheer, galling injustice of it all, Kiba Inuzuka paced down the shop-lined street with his faithful companion Akamaru trotting by his side.

"Stupid ANBU," the young ninja growled; his mind a long way from being able to accept his abrupt dismissal from a mission he never wanted in the first place.

* * *

"So what the hell do you a—holes want?" Kiba remembered barking at the two towering, armed and armored, zodiac-masked leaf-ninja who'd confronted him on his rooftop vantage just a short while ago.

"Stand down, Mr. Inuzuka," the taller of the two had then replied in a curt, authoritative tone before breaking the news: "Your mission's been scrubbed."

"That's right," the second one added smoothly with barely a pause. "Turns out this mist-ninja you've been following is WAY more dangerous than he looks. In fact, he's an imminent threat to Konoha and all its citizens."

"That's why we've got to step in. We'll be taking it from here."

"Yes, it's better if we do. This is no job for a genin."

Kiba, glancing back and forth between them as they'd switched off, gave them a look like he'd swallowed sour milk. Considering the visiting mist-ninja, Hiroo Okame's, girlish, very non-threatening face and mannerisms, delicate frame, and the friendly way he seemed to get along with Sakura and Kakashi-sensei, he found the ANBUs' report a little hard to accept.

"An _imminent_ threat?! THIS guy?" questioned Kiba in a piping, incredulous voice as he gestured spastically in the general direction of the street down below.

Both masked ninjas nodded gravely.

The boy gathered himself, eyes wide as he brayed: "You gotta be KIDDING me!"

"We appreciate that you kept an eye on him," the first ANBU offered in a half-hearted effort at placation.

Kiba turned away in disgust, shook his head then blew out a breath as he rested his hands tiredly on his hips.

"Hey, don't be mad, kid," said the second in a sarcastic kind of consolation. "Just think of it as a day off."

* * *

_"Just think of it as a day off,"_ parroted Kiba in a mocking, insulted voice while he walked, "Think of it as a day off!? Sh-t."

Akamaru fell back a pace and made a sorrowful, sympathetic sound.

"Well it's bullsh-t," the genin argued angrily. "I mean, who the hell do they think they are anyway? _'Stand down, Mr. Inuzuka; this skinny little punk-ass Okame guy from Wave Country is WAY out of YOUR league, Mr. Inuzuka.'_" Kiba grunted in disgust then spat, "Gimme a break!"

People walking down the sunny street gave the young ninja a wide, wide berth, as those unfamiliar with the Inuzuka clan saw the boy talking apparently to himself…loudly!

"And anyway it was the freakin' Hokage who told me to watch the guy in the first place, so why'd they have to come AT me like I'm small or something, huh? I'm a ninja too! And WE'VE faced death and been on dangerous missions just like they have!"

"Rarf!" the little white puppy answered, tail wagging.

Kiba stopped abruptly, frowned and looked down at Akamaru. "You know what?" he began in a cresting voice then lowered a finger at him. "You're right, It AIN'T good enough. You don't just send us out to do something then yank us back mid-way through, unh-uh." The genin turned right around, his expression transforming as he adjusted his hitai-ate. "Come on, boy. Let's follow 'em. Let's follow the big, bad ANBU black-ops, and see just how big and bad they and this Okame guy really are!"

* * *

**Haku**

_The Village Hidden in the Leaves,_ Haku wondered and sighed as he let his eyes roam. Even though the place's quirky buildings rose up all around him and he'd met so many of its ninja, even its new Hokage, Lady Tsunade, it was still hard for him to believe he was actually here.

For the better part of eight months the young shinobi had envisioned this place as the pinnacle of civilization, assuming all the qualities he'd admired so much in the four leaf-ninja he'd met reflected the nature of their home. It was a lovely idea – that the Leaf Village was the opposite of the Mist; that there was a place in the world as happy and full of life as Kirigakure was troubled, dark and violent.

But what Konoha's guardians had done in the name of self-defense had shocked Haku, and torn at the seams of wounds he'd almost forgotten. The blood-gifted clans the Hidden Mist Village had turned on then slaughtered, the Hidden Leaf Village had chosen instead to exploit. Though the latter seemed kinder than the former, both policies shared the same basic outlook – that the lives of those who were different, like him, held little value.

For awhile, Haku remembered, he'd really envied Sasuke Uchiha. That this boy, who possessed not JUST a kekkei-genkai but the most feared of them all, could be regarded as an equal, could have close friends like Naruto who'd defended him with his life and Sakura who'd been moved to tears at his apparent death.

For awhile Haku had wondered how different his own life would have been if his nameless, long-forgotten clan had made Fire Country their home; if maybe, HE had trained here and become a shinobi of the leaf.

But the Hokage's frank admission of what had been done to the Uchihas smoldered in his mind, and answered the teenager's wishful dream with a crueler reality: that the outstanding fact of his genetic difference would still have been an issue.

_There's still the Hyuuga,_ Haku pointed out to himself hopefully. _THEY seem to be at peace here. _The ninja shrugged, unconvinced despite not having an answer for that.

* * *

Pausing then, Haku cast his smoky eyes around curiously at the pastel-colored roofs and plank walls and wondered where Sakura's friend, Kiba, had gone. He no longer seemed to be following him. It was possible, of course, that the leaf-ninja was only being more careful. If that was so then he certainly deserved some credit, for Haku couldn't detect him at all.

There were definitely still eyes upon him, many more than before; that much Zabuza's student could feel even though most of the newcomers were determined to keep their energies and intents subdued.

The visitor hummed thoughtfully, wondering what this sudden increase in attention meant. He certainly didn't remember doing anything to provoke it. But maybe Kakashi or someone else, maybe Sakura, had told Lady Tsunade who he really was, and could understand how she might think that having a killer and notorious criminal running around loose amidst all these civilians might warrant a few more minders than just a couple of genin.

Another idea occurred to Haku – that maybe the Hokage had already verified the contents of the canisters he'd brought then decided to eliminate everyone who knew about them.

The idea gave the fifteen-year-old pause. It made sense. And though Tsunade really hadn't struck the young ninja as the kind of person who would practice such cynical treachery, it was probably pure foolishness to think that anyone who could rise to such a lofty rank would be above it…especially with so much at stake. People had certainly been executed for much less.

Haku rubbed his chin and looked around again. The environment shifted subtly in his mind as he considered that Konohagakure might now be, in reality, a pretty prison from which he would have to escape.

_A difficult matter,_ Haku assessed, _depending on who and how many ninja she sends against me._

The shinobi paused then closed his eyes in a meditative moment at the end of which he chuckled at himself for having once again lapsed into the melodramatic. There was no real reason to jump to such a dire conclusion right away. The extra people keeping him under surveillance could be nothing more than the Hokage acting with an abundance of caution. And really, if it did come to a fight, the young ninja still had every reason to be confident. After all, hadn't Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist and one of the Seven Legendary Shinobi Swordsmen been his sensei?

Whatever the case, Haku thought, he would find out soon enough.

Looking up toward where leafy tree canopies floated over the rooftops, Haku made his way toward them and, after walking a few blocks, found himself in another of Konoha's parks – an oasis of green encircled by forest. Here and there people strolled and walked their dogs along winding paths, and children ran around, played soccer, tag, or hide and seek on the rolling lawns.

"Tea, sir?" a man with an impressively large urn strapped to his back offered.

Haku smiled pleasantly and shook his head. "I've just had my fill," he declined demurely, "but thank you."

The vendor bowed and went on his way, tacking toward other customers.

The ninja continued along a paved pathway for awhile toward where the trail arced. There a wooden bench sat along with a kiosk that displayed a map of the park. Past that stood a tiny building with a shallow, gabled roof and broad, overhanging eaves, and was marked with a sign on which was painted the internationally understood pictograms for 'Men' and 'Women'.

Around the restrooms and down the path that meandered by them stretched a long length of ornamental hedges and flower beds, as immaculately-trimmed and well-cared-for a landscape as the teenager had ever seen.

Taking a seat on the bench, the young traveler set the present he'd bought Mari down beside him and settled his arms on his lap. Seeing how peaceful a place it was, full of light, warmth, and people with smiles on their faces, it was hard not to let the place work its charms on him. The ninja raised an eyebrow as he considered that maybe this was why Lady Tsunade had granted him such liberty instead of having him confined to a holding cell, which would have been well within her rights.

_Why can't Kirigakure no Sato be like this? _Haku couldn't help but ask himself, though he knew he didn't know the answer.

Zabuza, along with the various sages and philosophers the jonin had pressed into service, had taught Haku many things but history had never been one of them. To Zabuza, studying the past was inherently pointless because only the future, the great and glorious future created by HIM, mattered.

In retrospect, it struck Haku as kind of funny that, as Zabuza's disciple, he'd joined in a coup-de-etat' against a ninja-lord he knew almost nothing about. Not that details like that had mattered to him back then. In those days he would have done (and really HAD done) anything his master ordered no matter how dangerous or ill-conceived.

Haku shrugged and smiled wistfully. It seemed a shame that he knew so little about Kirigakure's history, or even how it had formed. It seemed like it would be interesting to know; that it might be a story full of drama and hope like the summarized version Tsunade had shared with him about the formation of the Hidden Leaf Village.

_Hmm,_ the ninja reconsidered. _No, probably not._

After all, everything about the place was founded on an all-consuming quest for strength – the kind of strength that flowed from a bloodthirsty ruthlessness cultivated specifically to deter any rival from raising a hand against Kirigakure or the lords they served.

Haku canted his head as he tried to remember the name of the current Mizukage, a shinobi with a somewhat less than impressive background, who'd come very close to having his head lopped off.

_Lord Kouji Oku._ Haku's face lit as the name came back to him. _That's it; that's his name – the Fourth Mizukage._

The teenager frowned sheepishly then, because if Oku was the Fourth then that meant there'd been three before him and, for the life of him, he couldn't recall hardly a single detail about either of the first two!

Number Three, of course, was easy. Haku knew a lot more about him because Zabuza had talked about HIM often. Where most people passed through Zabuza's life like rain splattering on pavement, flowing away without remembrance or recognition, the Third had actually _affected_ him.

Haku's master had described to him in stirring detail how this ninja-lord had made Kirigakure even greater as a military power, and bestowed the honors and titles on the men who would from then on be known as the Seven Legendary Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist -- that august group which included Zabuza. It was a reward for their slaughter of the rebellious Kaguya clan after they'd dared to attack the Hidden Mist Village, and public recognition that these seven had set the examples of strength and ferocity that all mist-ninja should emulate.

But even before that, Zabuza had been the Third Mizukage's eager follower, which always struck Haku as a little odd considering his master's otherwise misanthropic nature.

What helped to explain that was something Zabuza Momochi had never told Haku: that the two had met once before. It had been one of the Demon Brothers, Meizu, who'd told the apprentice the whole story of how it had been this ninja-lord who'd gone out to meet Zabuza that night when he, then just a boy, had walked alone from a training camp littered with the dismembered bodies of all the classmates he'd killed. There in the dark, cadet Zabuza, both child and mass-murderer, looked up into the eyes of the Mizukage; his own eyes showing neither deference nor regret. On that night, the ninja-lord acknowledged that Zabuza had made his point…then rewarded him by tossing him his hitai-ate.

Lord Oku, the present Mizukage, had taken over from this illustrious predecessor suddenly and Haku couldn't remember if the Third had been assassinated or what. In any case, Zabuza Momochi had no love at all for this unsatisfactory replacement he'd likened to someone who'd brought home an attack dog but was too afraid to make it obey. Indeed, one of the new Kage's very first acts was to disband the Seven Swordsmen in apparent terror of them.

From that day on, in Zabuza's mind, the Fourth's days were numbered. So while the other Swordsmen left Kirigakure in disgust or outrage the Demon stayed and planned his revolution. Haku's master could never serve a man he had no respect for. The Hidden Mist Village was about being strong and pitiless, and Zabuza had been proving since the time he was twelve years old that he was the strongest and most pitiless of them all.

_What a waste,_ mused Haku, gripped by an almost overpowering sadness. _A whole country believing that being strong only means how well you can hurt and kill others, and make them afraid. And they'll never know what they've lost, thinking that way._

The young ninja still deeply regretted some of the things he'd seen and done as Zabuza's disciple. How many ninja, rivals, bandits then, later on, ANBU, had gone into the afterlife, their bodies pierced by Haku's senbon? Though the teenager told himself that he'd never killed out of hatred or indifference to human life but only out of love for his master, and that all those he'd killed had known the risks, it brought him little comfort.

He regretted too how out-of-place he'd always been there in the Land of Waves, a place known for atrocities since well before his time; a place where he'd been doubly-outcast for both his kekkei-genkai and for his otherwise gentle spirit. Even with Zabuza Momochi as his constant companion and devoted mentor, he could never help but feel alone – as the last of his kind and as a kind soul in a country of killers.

Haku shook himself free, finding only bleak preoccupation in where his thoughts drifted.

_What about Wave Country?_

That was the question he really wanted to know the answer to, but it was still too early to tell.

One time, on a monument on a cliff overlooking the sea, Haku had drawn the picture of a wave and below it the epigram: 'The Future Will Be Your Epitaph'. The young ninja had then turned to the two boys, his students, Chuuya and Inari, then suggested that this would be the emblem for a new hidden village – the Village Hidden in the Surf. And it would protect the people of Wave Country. And it would be kind of like the Hidden Leaf Village…but better.

His theatrics, so heartfelt, so earnest, all seemed a little ridiculous to him in retrospect, more like a child's fantasy than a visionary's dream though it still brought a smile to Haku's face. His smile faded as considered his new home as it was – a protectorate of the Land of Water occupied by mist-ninja. And Kirigakure, whatever their motivation for invading the Land of Waves, would undoubtedly be reluctant to just pick up and leave.

Even with the occupation, Haku considered, there was a heady sense of freedom there that the young ninja both liked and disliked. It was…energized, electric and daring, pregnant with possibilities but it was a kind of freedom that was dangerous too – lawless, perilous, as if everything could suddenly collapse.

The legions of workers, thousands of them, brought in to man all the new construction projects worked hard and partied hard, but with a sense that the good times might not last. They were happy to sleep in tent cities or hastily-built barracks, hoarding their wages or sending them home, keeping their few belongings in lockers and duffle bags, suspecting all the while that they might be well-served to travel light. None had dared to bring children.

Slow, halting footsteps approached then, rousing Haku who looked up to find an old woman approaching along the path. Despite her age she was not at all matronly, having wind-blown curly brown hair streaked through with grey, a light-blue, loose fitting jacket, long scarf, and comfortable tan pants.

"Oh," she began in a perky, easy-going voice, one that delighted in surprises, "I'm usually the only one here so late in the afternoon. Do you mind if I sit?"

"No, Ma'am, please do," Haku replied, grateful to have his thoughts derailed, and gestured welcomingly to the length of empty bench beside him.

The newcomer smiled and lowered herself down with ginger care. "I don't think I've seen your face around before, I'd remember," the woman offered, her eyes crinkling. "Are you from this village?"

The ninja shook his head. "No, ma'am, 'from Wave Country. I'm just visiting."

"Oh, Wave Country," she startled slightly. "That's a difficult place I hear, poor and full of bandits."

"It used to be, but things have improved a lot over the last year." Haku smiled and snuck a look at the book that stuck from her handbag – 'Kingdom of the Imagination by Kalil Gibran,' then asked, "How do you like living in the Hidden Leaf Village?"  
The woman's dry lips upturned thoughtfully. "It's a good enough place all in all. Living in a ninja village has its bad points – invasions, saboteurs, being attacked by monsters…that sort of thing."

Haku nodded. "It must be quite disconcerting," the ninja had to agree.

"It is. But the people are nice and there's always something interesting going on. I can't imagine living anywhere else!"

The ninja's eyes flickered for a moment before he returned an easy smile. "This is a nice spot. I can see why you favor it," he offered before continuing: "Would you mind saving my place for a few minutes?"

"Certainly," said the woman as Haku, leaving behind his present, rose then made his way to the restrooms.

* * *

**Kiba**

The ninja had assumed that the two ANBU he'd encountered would be hard to track by scent, being that they'd been seen last on a rooftop that was wide open to the wind. Though that assumption had proven correct, he found that following Hiroo Okame, a kid who walked slowly, had just eaten and still smelled a little bit like sesame oil and chili pepper paste proved to be simplicity itself.

Kiba trailed Akamaru who lead the ninja onward through Konoha's streets toward Senju Park, a place the genin knew well.

"Hmm," Kiba considered. "Y'know, Okame's stuck to the sidewalks the whole time he's been here. I'll bet we could cut through the woods and find him again inside the park. Then again, we might lose him.

"What do you think, Akamaru?"

"Hr-rar-rarf!" the ninja puppy answered with confidence.

"All right," laughed Kiba with the flash of a grin, "the short-cut it is."

Both boy and dog veered off the pavement and vanished into Senju Park's dim, thickly-wooded outskirts but were only about halfway through when Akamaru slowed to a stop then took cover behind a cluster of trees.

Kiba shot his canine friend a mystified look but quickly and carefully followed suit and fell in beside him. The ninja-hound's instincts and reactions were rarely wrong, especially in the forest.

The white puppy fixed his dark eyes upward into the trees just ahead where a lone figure crouched, his shadowed profile hidden expertly high in the boughs. A sly, upward tilt of the leaf-genin's chin was enough to send Akamaru on his way while Kiba himself circled wide, silently made his way up into the thickly-leaved treetops and crept toward whoever it was.

Once he had a proper vantage, he could make out the figure of a man who was tall with ropey muscles and wore a bulging backpack though the rest of his clothing was ordinary – work khakis, thick-soled boots and a stained white t-shirt. The intruder's head was hung and his hands, hidden because his back was turned, were busy at work on something. Kiba trained his keen eyes on the open flap of the man's backpack and made out the shapes of kunai knives along with reels of monofilament wire and camouflage netting. If the young leaf-ninja had harbored any doubts before they were gone now. This was not one of the ANBU or any leaf-ninja he'd ever seen or gotten the scent of before. And he was certainly no civilian; that was for damn sure.

Although eager to see what the unidentified ninja was up to, Kiba took his time – determined not to give in to impatience and give away his position. He had another few minutes yet.

_'Stick to the plan,'_ he thought with a cold grin. _'It works every time.'_

Moving slowly, the leaf-ninja worked his way higher and closer. Now he could see what the man was up to with such diligence that he didn't seem to be aware of much else.

_'Origami?' _Kiba wondered, because laid out on the stranger's knees and to the left and right of him on the tree limb on which he squatted sat an assortment of paper animals – a unicorn, a crane, a crab, a giraffe, a dragon, and even a little man. Each was about the size of his hand.

'_What the hell --,'_ the leaf-genin gasped quietly as he realized what they were, for the man had from his backpack produced a fresh sheet of paper to fold -- special calligraphy paper that was covered with runes and markings. All those figures…were paper bombs.

As the man made the first crease, his shoulders shook with quiet laughter.

Kiba grit his teeth worriedly, his eyes darting around in search of Akamaru, as he thought to warn him but it was too late.

Just then, and right on time to provide a distraction, the puppy barked high and shrill as he approached and then again when he passed directly under the strange ninja's bough, rustling loudly through the leaves that carpeted the forest floor. The stranger looked down sharply as the little white dog raced by, then slotted two of his paper figures into his interlaced fingers and formed the chakra seals for a jutsu. Releasing his hands wide, the origami crane fluttered to life then flew after the dog while the unicorn dropped all the way down but hit the ground running as it began to give chase.

_'F-CK!'_ growled Kiba to himself, knowing he'd have to make this quick while trusting in Akamaru's speed.

Timing the arc of his leap, he landed behind the enemy ninja and uncoiled into a sharp blow with the edge of his forearm just below the man's ear. In a whirl of motion, Kiba's arms twined around the stunned figure's neck and interlocked until the mysterious intruder went slack.

Working furiously, the genin struggled to strip the man of his backpack and pat him down for concealed weapons. He then used the ninja's own monofilament wire, adhesive tape and camouflage netting to secure him to the tree limb in an awkward position with arms and legs bound, eyes blindfolded, mouth gagged and ears muffled. His fingers were, of course, immobilized to prevent him from using jutsu.

As Kiba went through the rest of the stranger's pack he found in one of its pouches a wadded up hitai-ate. The boy shook it out, turned it over then gasped in shock at the engraved insignia that lay revealed on its metal plate – a single, musical note; an eighth note with a single, re-curved flag. Kiba restrained himself from snarling instinctively at the symbol he knew all too well, the symbol of Otogakure, the Village Hidden in the Sound.

_What's WRONG with these…these bastards!_ the genin cursed angrily. _We kicked their ass MONTHS ago. What the hell are they doing back?_

An approaching, rustling sound alerted Kiba that he didn't have time to think about stuff like that right now. Akamaru was back from having circled around and the little guy was moving fast, VERY fast, knowing he was being chased.

Hot breath and flecks of froth gusted from the dog's mouth; leaves and clots of dirt flew up in his wake, kicked up from his galloping paws.

Drawing kunai, the young ninja readied himself, took aim then let one fly. The blade whirled through space toward the paper crane that dove like a condor at the white puppy's back, skewered it through and carried the figurine off into the underbrush. The leaf-genin's eyes tore then through the forest floor behind Akamaru in search of the remaining unicorn but the thing was so close on the little ninja-hound's hinds that he almost didn't see it tearing along on stiff but fast-moving pleated, triangular legs.

Again he flung a blade but the paper creature darted aside in a blur of motion and the knife thudded, stuck point first into the ground.

"Dammit!" hissed Kiba as Akamaru sped past followed by only a few paces by the rapidly-closing unicorn. He'd already assumed that the 'paper-bomb on legs' was chakra activated, so any really close contact would cause it to detonate. The ninja rushed after the origami then raced ahead to get a good angle for his next throw.

A pair of Kiba's kunai blurred through the air but again the paper animal dodged easily. The stupid thing was small, fast, jittery and erratic in its movements which made it incredibly hard to hit.

Akamaru, changing tactics, bounded evasively left then right, sprang up into the trees and leaped from bough to bough. While the puppy managed to gain some ground on his relentless pursuer, Kiba's knives stuck into the ground, into trees, or went whistling by the unicorn as it continued to veer and weave with jerky, hummingbird-like ease.

Sweat beaded on the leaf-ninja's forehead, his cheeks burning with frustration at the knowledge that Akamaru was starting to tire and time was running out.

Landing on a tree limb ahead of the oncoming puppy, Kiba focused and blew out a quick breath then gasped as Akamaru, instead of rushing past, ran up the tree straight at him using chakra to cling to the trunk.

"What are you doing, boy?!" sputtered the ninja in alarm as the puppy leaped backwards off the tree, clear into space, leaving the genin with a clear shot at the folded figurine that followed right behind him. Kiba flung his knife, not straight but spinning so it took up more space. The knife struck the unicorn and knocked it to the base of the tree where its progress was slowed enough for Kiba to stick it through, pinning it to the earth like a trophy butterfly. The paper creature struggled and twitched like a living thing before it went still – the jutsu that animated it fading.

The young leaf-ninja allowed himself a moment of satisfaction and relief before jumping down to join his recovering ninja-hound. "Are you ok, Akamaru?"

"Hrrf," the puppy responded with weary readiness between raspy, panting breaths as his master patted him, rose then looked around cautiously into the woods which were quiet once more.

"This is bad if there's a bunch of sound-ninja running around loose inside Konoha." Kiba exhaled sharply then dropped his gaze. "It's even worse if that Okame guy's mixed up with them. Hey, you don't think --," the boy swallowed hard, his face growing pale. "You don't think that Mist and Sound are teamed up now, do you…like with Sand before?

"Agh, dammit!" snarled Kiba. It was hard not to think about the destruction wrought by the last invasion and all the senseless deaths, even that of their beloved Sandaime.

"This is too much." The young ninja's limbs fell slack as he struggled with the picture the assembling pieces of the puzzle were starting to show him. "No wonder the ANBU said this guy was so dangerous."

Remembering how Kabuto had laid him out, and how he'd slept through the entire war while his friends, family and classmates fought, killed and died to protect the Hidden Leaf Village, brought a scowl to his face. "There is no…freakin'…WAY, I'm gonna miss this!" he vowed. "If Otogakure wants a rematch, I'll give 'em one they'll never forget."

He thought about Hiroo Okame -- a visitor, a damn guest!

_And Tsunade told me to protect him; to…protect…HIM!_ Kiba raged quietly. _This guy, with a girl's face, who looks so…so harmless! This guy who managed to trick Sakura, Kakashi, and even Lady Tsunade!_

Unable to contain himself, Kiba hammered his fist into a tree. Bark crumbled under the impact and spilled to the ground. "Come on, Akamaru," the ninja commanded, "let's go."

* * *

**Haku**

For a little while after his return from the restrooms, Haku sat beside the old woman and kept her company while she read. The ninja's smile was placid, his back straight, with both feet flat on the ground and arms folded gently at his waist in so formal and effortless a posture that any debutante would have envied him. His big, calming grey eyes glanced at his companion, over his shoulder then at the quartet of gardeners who'd arrived and were going over the hedges and planting beds just across the path from him.

"Ma'am?" the teenager inquired at which the lady looked up from her book.

"Oh, yes?"

The teenager's expression turned sad but serious as he looked away for a moment then back. "Thank you for saving my place. But I have another favor to ask."

Her expression rose at the mystery. "What's that?"

"I think you've been sent to kill me," explained Haku who then added lightly: "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be coy, actually I'm quite sure of it or I wouldn't have said so. But I beg you, give up your mission." The woman's aged face blanched with shock but, before she could speak, the young ninja added: "Please, just hear me out. It may sound impossible to believe, but I came here in good faith and I swear that I will keep Konoha's secret as dearly as if it were my own."

The woman's distressed expression quivered. "Young man, I –."

Haku raised his hand. "When I left the Hokage's tower earlier today, there were only two ninja following me. Now there are over a dozen – you, the tea-vendor, the ones in the trees behind us and in the culvert pipe below, those gardeners trimming that hedge that's already been trimmed within an inch of its life --." The teenager's eyes rose as he covered his lips with his fingertips. "I'm sorry," he added, "that was a poor choice of words. What I want you to understand is – it is not my wish to hurt anyone."

The old woman leveled her gaze then flashed him a thoughtful smirk. "What do you propose?" said she in an altogether different timber.

Haku smiled gently. "Let me go."

"That's it?" said the lady, wide-eyed. "You make it sound so simple."

The young ninja nodded. "I'm sure you can signal your team to call it off. I'll go my way, you'll go yours. I'll leave the Hidden Leaf Village at once and promise you'll never hear or see me again."

"And if not?"

"I fear," intoned Haku, his thin, dark brow knitting, "that it will end badly for everyone."

The woman nodded. "You may have a point." Her expression pinched in deliberation before she closed her eyes then expressed a sigh. "Very well," she said at last. "I suppose, since you caught on to us, that you must be smarter than any average sort of shinobi. You may go."

The teenager's face flushed with relieved surprise. Haku seemed to savor the moment, finding meaning in it, then rose and bowed to the woman. "Thank you, Ma'am," the young shinobi offered gratefully at which the old woman shrugged, smiled and nodded abstractly.

"Easy come, easy go," she replied with a casual air.

No sooner had Haku turned to leave then, with a quick, fluid movement, the woman whipped her scarf around the teenager's neck. The weighted end wrapped twice around in an instant then, in a blink of an eye, the kunoichi synched the ends tight in her grasp and yanked her prey in close, turning hard into him so that they were back to back, bowing his posture, pinning him tightly, and making sure to hook him at the ankle so that he couldn't flip over her. The fabric of her scarf was slick and tough and, in her capable hands, easily capable of crushing the fragile structures of a man's neck. Only the high, reinforced collar of the ninja's vest had saved him this long.

Haku's hands flew to his throat, his eyes bulging from the pressure, hands clawing desperately at the ligature while his face swelled and darkened; his white teeth bared, mouth wide and gasping though hardly a trickle of air could pass.

"Hope you enjoyed your stay!" cackled the woman, who was really not as old as she seemed without her disguise.

Other ninja leaped from their hiding places in the trees behind them, but they were just guards. The gardeners, responding to a silent signal, gave up their transformation-jutsu disguises, spun around then leaped with swords drawn toward the helpless visitor from Wave Country, the razor points of their blades homing toward his unprotected belly.

* * *

_Yeah, I know, kind of a cliffy. But you know how I do. All comments, questions, praise hopefully but criticism too are appreciated. Thanks so much for reading!_

_--Jonohex_

* * *


	5. Mission to Konohagakure Part 5

_Hi, and thanks for coming back :):):). Writing is a pretty empty experience without readers, so I hope you enjoy Chapter 5. --Jonohex._

_Now, without further adieu..._

**Free for all**

Pronunciation: \ˈfrē-fə-ˌrȯl\

Function: _noun_

Date: 1881

:A disorderly fight, argument, or competition in which everyone present participates. See synonyms at brawl.

A quarrel, fight, or disturbance marked by very noisy, disorderly, and often violent behavior: affray, brawl, broil2, donnybrook, fray, melee, riot, row2, ruction, tumult. _Informal_ fracas. _Slang_ rumble. _See_ attack/defend.

**Here we go, look out below  
I'm on the prowl tonight  
When it's said and done I have my fun  
I can chew anything I bite  
Come one, come all to a midnight ball  
The invitation's there  
I come alone and I'm drivin' home  
I'm healthy, I do declare  
It's a free-for-all.**

**--Ted Nugent, Free For All**

* * *

**Kiba**

Having proceeded with greater caution, with Akamaru's sharp senses alert, and using chakra to heighten his own, Kiba Inuzuka soon discovered that they were far from alone in the woods that surrounded Senju Park. It appeared as if that lone sound-ninja they'd surprised earlier was only a sentry for an entire squad of them that lay in wait around the park's edge.

_I can't freakin' believe there's so MANY of them, _hissed the young ninja to himself. _Leaf Village security never was that great but THIS is just ridiculous!_

Kiba's eagerness to find out what these intruders were up to quickly gave way to wanting to get revenge, for his fists to start slamming into sound-ninja jaws, his kunai to start sticking into sound-ninja carcasses -- payback for what Otogakure had done to his village four months ago and he was NOT about to wait very much longer. The genin certainly wasn't going to waste time trying to find out what happened to the ANBU who'd replaced him or if they even knew about what was going on. As far as he was concerned it was obvious that these invaders were up to no good so it was better to f-ck up their plans _first_ then find out what those plans were _second!_

Creeping around to their flank, a very simple plan of attack materialized – he and Akamaru would unload with their most powerful combined justu, Beast Transformation, first in order to take out as many as possible by surprise, fake a retreat into the woods to regroup then pick off whoever was left.

_And if they pull that Okame scumbag from the wreckage,_ Kiba proposed with righteous anger,_ so much the better!_

The young, chestnut-haired leaf-ninja pressed his fingers together for what would be the first in a series of hand signs but then stopped as the wind shifted, carrying with it a pair of familiar scents – Hiroo Okame's along _with_ one of the ANBU's.

_What the --?_ he thought then peeked out through the underbrush into the park, from where the scents drifted.

There on a bench, just as peacefully as could be, sat the girly-faced mist-ninja kid and some old lady having what seemed like a nice conversation. Except that Kiba's heightened sense of smell was telling him it wasn't an old lady, but a MAN in disguise and one of the ANBU he'd talked to earlier. One of the four gardeners toiling away on the hedges and flower beds just a few paces away from them was the other.

_Wait a minute…what the hell's going on?_ Kiba puzzled as another idea crashed across his imagination. _Maybe those guys weren't ANBU at all! And maybe Okame's NOT teamed up with these sound-ninjas!_

The genin remembered that he really hadn't pressed the two masked shinobi to identify themselves, so they could easily have been imposters. Then too, they'd seemed a little strange even for black-ops. And it seemed kinda weird, now that he was thinking about it, how they'd never once referred to the visiting mist-ninja by name: Hiroo Okame.

Kiba's dark, wolfish eyes flickered in the direction of the ninjas waiting in ambush then back toward Okame who might or might not know anything about what was going on, back and forth again, until the memory of what Lady Tsunade had told him reasserted itself – _'If anything, ANY-THING, happens to him, then you'll be __**PUSHING A BROOM!'**_

"Oh, sh-t," muttered the leaf-ninja softly to himself, face blanching, breath racing, as he watched Okame rise, bow then start to walk away.

The visitor hadn't gone further than a couple of steps when the fake woman took up a length of the scarf he wore, flicked it like an expert fly-fisherman and snagged the mist-ninja constable around the neck. Okame staggered back, hands flying toward his throat, as the disguised ninja pulled hard, twisted into him and locked the young shinobi in tight, helpless and quickly being strangled.

The gang of gardeners, their disguises vanishing in blurs of dissipating chakra, rushed into motion with blades drawn as they leaped intent on butchering their helpless prey while still more ninja burst from the woods behind, all dressed not as shinobi but in ordinary street clothes.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" roared Kiba with teeth bared as he exploded from the underbrush with chakra surging into his legs. Thirty yards of distance flew past him in a green whirl as he threw himself toward Okame with all hopes of a decent future as a leaf-ninja crumbling away before his eyes. Lowering his shoulder, Kiba thundered through an as-yet unorganized skirmish line of enemies, knocking surprised assassins aside like a speeding train through so many hay-bales.

With feet pounding, muscles burning, Kiba looked up in desperation to realize that he and the gardener/swordsmen were going to converge simultaneously. The genin threw himself on, willing his legs to run faster, but lost control as he tried to push them too far. Stumbling over the last twenty feet that separated him from the mist-ninja, Kiba barely kept himself upright then at the last moment lunged in an effort to shove Okame away with as much strength as he could summon.

Even as his outstretched hands made contact with the trapped boy, Kiba knew he'd gotten there too late. The race was a tie and the enemy ninjas' fatal sword thrusts plunged under the visiting shinobi's vest up deep into his belly. But before the young Inuzuka's thoughts could flash on the ramifications or what he should do next, Okame's body burst into a spray of water and glistening vapor which caught the sunlight in prismatic, rainbow hues.

_Water…_Kiba considered with eyes wide as he crashed through where the mist-ninja had just been_…clone._

Careening forward completely out of control, a hopelessly off-balanced prisoner of his own momentum, the wet genin raised his arms to guard his head and neck but the slashes he expected never came as the assassins near him stiffened eerily, their knees buckling, their weapons falling from failing grasps. Only at last did Kiba catch sight of the gleaming metal tines that stuck from their necks, backs and chests.

_Sh-t!_ Kiba yelped, ducking down and drawing kunai, as bodies all around started to fall under a silent fusillade of senbon; with stricken, surprised cries filling the air.

"Ninja, scatter!" an order rang out way too late.

A man, another disguised sound-ninja dressed as a waiter, rushed at Kiba who gave a head-feint then ducked under his swiping sword and cut him across the stomach. Spinning back close and in-tight, the genin reversed his grip and hammered his kunai hilt-deep into the would-be killer's ribs.

The sounds of racing footsteps told Kiba of other enemies rushing toward him. Without sparing a look, Kiba hooked the first ninja's arm as he started to doubled over, and rolled over his back to turn the already wounded ninja into a shield. The oncoming attackers managed to stop their blows in time but then stumbled back as the young ninja shoved the body of the first into them.

Kiba leaped back to the edge of the tree-line then paused as he saw someone descend from a high leap onto the wooden park bench – a uniformed figure with a face far too fair and angelic to be male and who moved with an egret's grace, whose crossed hands ended in spreads of metal pinfeathers. A ripple coursed through the supposed victim, Hiroo Okame's, body, then uncoiled through his arms which lashed out, sending another wave of senbon streaking forth.

Two more assassins clutched their chests and fell, joining half-a-dozen of their comrades. More swordsmen, all in anonymous dress, rushed Okame and the mist-ninja whirled forth to meet them, batting away their strikes with bundled senbon then slashing and stabbing with their points unfurled like fans.

Kiba shook himself from the odd spectacle and got back to business. "All-Fours Jutsu!" he barked seriously with fingers locked in a seal, then dropped to his hands and the balls of his feet as his appearance shifted lycanthropically in response to his chakra. Leaping back and forth then, too agile to track, Kiba tore into the already disorganized and dispirited remnants of the ninja-assassins with fists, feet and short, slashing claws. Before the enemy could even think about regrouping, Akamaru rejoined his partner and an instant later flashed into an exact duplicate of him – the leaf-genin's 'Man-Beast Clone Jutsu'.

"Yeah! That's the stuff, boy!" roared Kiba with joyous satisfaction as their enemies fell before their combined onslaught one-after-another.

The young leaf-ninja looked back at Okame, having made a point NOT to lose track of him, and noted (not too unhappily) that not only was the kid uninjured, he hardly even seemed concerned.

Akamaru, still identical to his partner, spun suddenly and knocked Kiba down then as a jet of noxious liquid squirted from the direction of the forest right through where the boy's face had been. Though it had missed by a good couple of feet, the genin still gagged and coughed wretchedly, his eyes stinging, from the unknown substance's virulent potency.

_Poison!_ the ninja realized at once, recovered then tried to shake off the effects. "So," Kiba growled as he and his double bounded evasively then dove into the woods in pursuit of their attacker, "there's one left. And THIS guy plays f-ckin dirty."

* * *

**Haku**

After the last of the assassins had fallen, Haku looked toward the trees where Kiba and a second Kiba had disappeared. He kind of hadn't expected the leaf-genin to come charging in for a rescue like that and, although it had been something of a complication at the time, Haku had to admit it gave him a nice feeling.

_Evidently, my 'tail' is also my bodyguard,_ Haku concluded,_ and he sure seems to take his assignments personally,_ the ninja noted with an approving smile. _Even though he WAS a second late._

It felt good that somebody 'cared' about him even if it was only in an official capacity. And then too this turn of events had, in the young shinobi's mind, shed some light on the bigger picture: Kiba's whole-hearted attempt to save him (and you definitely couldn't fake a performance like THAT) made Haku all but certain that these ninja who'd tried to kill him were not from Konohagakure as he'd thought, and gave some reassurance that Lady Tsunade's conversation with him earlier really had been on the level.

At first sight, Haku had worried that Kiba's arrival might ruin the counter-attack he'd planned, but it had all worked out in the end. Avoiding hitting the leaf-genin and his puppy (what was his name again?) with senbon had been easy enough to do and the pair had certainly handled a good share of the fighting afterwards.

Zabuza's disciple grinned. He really hadn't expected Sakura's friend to be quite so…unusual: the unkempt, dark brown hair; the slight wildness in his eyes; the big, grey, hooded and fur-fringed jacket he wore that made Kiba's lean frame seem so much bigger, or the bright red half-crescents tattooed on the sides of his face.

_Fangs?_ Haku had guessed even before he'd seen Kiba grimace during the fight and noticed that the boy had real ones – not vampiric, but definitely longer and pointier than most peoples' canines.

Actually, for a second, Haku had felt a pang of trepidation at the idea that this genin might be like Hoshigake. But that didn't seem right. Kiba's abilities and traits felt as if their source derived more from a natural affinity with animals, maybe even a sense of kinship, rather than the ill-conceived experiments which had produced Zabuza's fellow Swordsman, The Scourge of the Hidden Mist, Kisame Hoshigake.

_You really shouldn't be surprised by his peculiarities,_ Haku mused pleasantly. _That's the only consistent thing among Sakura's class of genin, from Rock Lee to Naruto to Sasuke, to Sakura herself and now, Kiba – how different they all are._

Staring contemplatively toward the tree-line, with almost a dozen pin-cushioned bodies laying near his feet, the ninja crossed his arms and hummed to himself. _I suppose I should go after him,_ he concluded after a time. _Kiba might resent my assistance but if he's gone after another one of my killers then helping him out is the least I can do._

Haku took a step toward the woods but then froze in his tracks. There it was again: a sense that he was still being watched.

A frown creased the constable's youthful, feminine face. _Apparently,_ he realized, _there are still at least TWO more assassins._

The shinobi looked slowly into the trees, between the trunks at first, then up into the boughs higher and higher until he craned his head all the way up toward the very top. There among the topmost branches stood a young woman with straight, sandy hair cut dead-level at the bottom, dressed in a long, off-teal smock of the sort a seamstress might wear. Though her face was deadpan, her eyes stared intently.

Haku bowed then gave the woman a disarming smile. There was a chance, he supposed, albeit a very, very small one, that she didn't come here to fight along with the rest or that maybe that she could be dissuaded; that maybe a friendly gesture was all it would take.

His watcher slowly unbuttoned her smock and shed it; part of a disguise she no longer needed. Underneath she wore a blousy silver shirt gathered at the waist with a yellow sash. The kunoichi raised her hand out level then rocked it back and forth. 'So-so,' the gesture said. 'Your fighting skills are so-so.'

In the blink of an eye the woman leaped from her branch and swooped down on him. Haku sidestepped nimbly but his new foe leaped backward then, to his disbelief, changed vectors in mid-air and struck at him again this time slashing his right forearm, not with any weapon but with the chakra focused into the tips of her fingers.

Zabuza's apprentice spun around, his fresh wound stinging, as the girl flew away then came to a stop -- perched atop the ridge of the distant restroom's gabled roof. Standing arrow-straight like a silver weather-vane with her light-colored hair waving gently in the wind, the assassin turned back towards him, coiled her hands past one another then, at the end, extended her lead hand out with her fingers flexed into a three-fingered claw with her back hand cocked close to her ear.

_Such speed,_ thought Haku. _In a straight line she's faster than I am._ His expression shifted slightly as the realization gave him an idea.

The silver-clad kunoichi eyed him dispassionately then glanced at her fallen compatriots and expressed a sigh. "Never send rock-hogs to do an eagle's job," she intoned then scowled as her target adopted a rigid stance, with his right hand behind his back and the other held out in an open, upward-facing palm – something he'd seen before recently. "You…you just can't wait to die, can you?" the woman remarked then soared at him, almost faster than the eye could follow.

Again Haku sidestepped but this time, with a discordant chime and an explosion of crystalline shards and particles, let the oncoming ninja crash through a nearly invisible sheet of ice that he'd formed right in front of him using seals made with his unseen hand.

Haku coiled at the waist then fired a one-knuckled phoenix-eye punch targeted under the startled, shaken and off-balanced kunoichi's ear which she managed to weather, barely, by crouching down and hunching her shoulders at the last moment.

Following after her, Haku punished the assassin with a pair of instep kicks fired in quick succession, one low and one high. The woman drew her knee up into her chest to block the first with her shin then leaned away from the second to lessen its impact. Leaping back then to get some distance, the kunoichi gave the teenager a warlike grimace, brushed her length of sandy hair back with both hands then charged. Right before closing, she jumped at Haku with legs drawn in tight and arms outstretched but the move was only a feint. The actual targets for the snapping kicks that followed were low – into the bowels and groin.

Haku, being alert and experienced, blocked the first with a downward thrust of both overlapping palms then deflected the second to the outside as he jumped aside. Immediately, the woman spun around, slashing at the young ninja's eyes with a three-fingered claw then, after Haku ducked, struck straight toward his neck with her left.

Back and forth they traded blows and blocks, one flowing into the other and each move a continuation of the one before until the assassin suddenly leaped away.

Haku flung a spread of senbon after her but the kunoichi touched down then sprang straight up, avoiding the oncoming missiles which shot just under her. The black-haired teenager veered and readied another flight but then, catching a flicker of movement in the corner of his eye and realizing that the woman's withdrawal had been calculated, sent them hurtling off toward his left.

The tea-vendor lurched and ducked for cover, his shot fouled by the long needles that struck him in his arm and chest, but still a stream of acrid liquid shot forth from a hand-held nozzle that fed back to his urn in a sweeping, wild arc which caught Haku across the neck and back of his armored vest as he turned to avoid it.

Haku's face constricted in pain. His eyes burned, his vision blurred and his breath stopped in his chest as his body, unwilling to inhale, recoiled from the caustic fumes. The young ninja, gagging and half-blinded, realizing he was a sitting duck, rolled aside as something fast whirled by him, tearing his vest in its passage.

Between the kunoichi and the tea-vendor, Haku presumed, he wasn't going to last long unless he was able to get his head clear and find some cover.

Chakra-empowered fingers slashed across his flank from one direction then again across his thigh from another and the ninja could feel the hot trickles of blood seeping into the fabric of his clothing. Haku huddled over, crouching to protect his stomach, with arms raised to cover his head but he knew this was a losing strategy, a futile stall for time at best.

* * *

**Kiba**

The youngest of the Inuzuka clan stalked through the trees around the edge of Senju Park, hunting for the ninja who'd sprayed poison at him.

_Not a very nice thing to do,_ Kiba growled to himself, grimly sarcastic.

With his senses clearing in the forest air he ascertained what he already half-suspected – that the attack had only been a diversion to lead him away from the real target, that visiting ninja from the Hidden Mist Village.

Akamaru, still an identical copy of Kiba by means of the boy's 'Man-Beast Clone Jutsu', sniffed the air then cocked his head.

"Yeah, that's kinda what I thought," agreed the leaf-ninja who was already cutting back towards the park. "Let's head him off before he gets there."

Suddenly, with a percussive pop and a cloud of billowing smoke, the enemy ninja appeared before them only a few paces away and let loose with a flight of shuriken that swept right to left. The two evaded but right into the path of a flash bomb that followed immediately after. Kiba and Akamaru both shielded their eyes but still got caught by the dazzling magnesium flare.

Kiba grit his teeth and blinked rapidly, seeing through a haze of white spots the point of a kunai stabbing toward his neck. Caught flat-footed, the genin parried, barely ducked a reverse-handed slash then dropped to the ground and spun away. Akamaru, he knew, was right there to cover for him. Still in Kiba form, the ninja-puppy blocked the attacker's thrust, grabbed his wrist, pulled it down then slashed at the man's face with clawed fingertips.

Kiba's vision cleared as he rolled to a crouch in time to get a better look at their enemy who was dressed as a tea-vendor -- regular grey-colored slacks, roomy tan shirt and vest, and a towel worn at his waist along with a sleeve of disposable paper cups. Upon his back was strapped a cumbersome-looking metal tea-urn which reminded the boy of that sand-ninja Gaara's giant gourd.

Kiba tumbled toward the shinobi's legs with a scissor-kick takedown, but the man ducked and twisted away from Akamaru's attack then jumped backward over Kiba, turned and started to run.

With his face breaking into a confident grin, Kiba slid to his feet and wiped a sleeve across his chin then sped eagerly after him. Trying to outrun him and Akamaru in the forest was pure stupidity, or else this ninja just didn't know any better. The trees flew past, branches whipping, as the two leaf-ninjas closed in on the imposter tea-vendor.

Following a move from their playbook so familiar and well-practiced that it required no signal, Akamaru headed the man off then took him down at the ankles with a sliding, soccer tackle that plowed a swath though the forest's carpet of fallen leaves.

Kiba pounced quickly over Akamaru and atop the downed ninja, intent on driving one foot down hard into the man's back to pin him while he hammered into the side of his head with the ringed pommel of his kunai. But as the genin made contact, he found that his target was only a tangle of brush and branches; and at the same time felt a trip-wire pull across his chest.

"Ah, SH-T!" Kiba cried, rolled forward then, once his feet were under him, put everything into a single outward leap as a tensioned branch suddenly released with a snap.

A cloud of fine, particulate red burst forth which filled the air, spreading out in inky billows around the forked branches and tree trunks like crimson fog. Kiba leaped again to be sure he got clear then stopped cold as a desperate _yelp_ rang out.

"Akamaru!?" the boy cried wide-eyed in horror then rushed back, picking his way carefully around the whorls of treacherous powder that drifted more like smoke or mist. "AKAMARU!?" Kiba called again with raw emotion cracking in his voice then saw his little ninja-hound at last, clone jutsu dispelled, twitching blinding and whining in distress amidst the vaporous red.

The young ninja winced, heartsick at the sight.

For what seemed to him like an unforgivably long time, the genin looked around frantically for any way to fix this. His eyes darted as his hands and feet started in one direction, stopped then started in another as they seized at any number of unresolved ideas.

At last, unable to think of any other way to rescue his friend, Kiba steeled himself. The young ninja drew close to the edge of the red cloud, took a deep breath, shut his eyes tight then waded in. A score of blind paces took him to his beloved ninja-hound's side where the genin crouched, groped around for the puppy then scooped him up, turned around and made a measured pace back out – quickly but carefully.

Having held his breath in for as long as he could, he exhaled it as slowly as he could then held it out, hoping it would be enough to get him clear of the ninja's dust cloud. In the darkness behind his closed eyes, Kiba thought he'd kept his path straight though it was hard to be sure.

_Am I out?_ the genin wondered when he felt the strain burn in his chest and his heart start to pound loudly. _I took twenty-two paces in and twenty-nine back just to be sure so I should be clear, right?_

Although he was 'pretty sure' he was, that seemed like an awfully long way from being 'absolutely sure.' _Well, I'd better be clear_, the chestnut-haired ninja told himself,_ because I'm out of breath and it'll really be bad if I'm not!_

Knowing it was a risk he'd have to take, Kiba cracked an eyelid. When all he saw were the clear, muted colors of the forest, he sighed with relief, opened them fully then knelt to tend to Akamaru whose white coat was splotched and stained with dark red. Juice dripped from the puppy's eyes, snot from his nose and slobber from his mouth as he thrashed his head this way and that, crying and pawing uselessly at his face.

"Aw, no!" moaned Kiba, who set him down then brought out his canteen. "No, boy, don't rub it, that'll only make it worse," he advised in a strong, comforting voice, poured water over Akamaru's face then forcibly held the puppy's eyes open one at a time to painstakingly wash them out. Afterwards, the young ninja put his mouth over the dog's nose and blew water down it in a sloppy gush that came out Akamaru's mouth.

"Sorry about that," offered Kiba guiltily, then worried as he watched the grey-eared, grey-lipped puppy sputter and cough. "You know I had to."

Back at the academy, Iruka-sensei had taught them the basics of ninja powders and poisons. Some only blinded and were meant to hinder their opponents while others could certainly kill, often in ways that were horrifically painful.

Kiba quivered with anger at getting suckered like that. Now not only was Akamaru out of action, and maybe poisoned, but that enemy ninja was undoubtedly getting a free shot at Okame right now.

Looking back toward the park, his jaw clenching, conflicted as to what he should do next, Kiba told his friend: "Wait here, boy. I'll be back in a minute, ok?"

Akamaru growled savagely then, to Kiba's astonishment, pushed his way to all-fours.

"Are you sure?" the leaf-ninja questioned then reached toward him but the puppy snapped at his hand then jumped up and down with feisty impatience. "Ok," Kiba reluctantly agreed, "but I'm gonna make Hana check you over top to bottom, inside and out when this is over!"

"Er-raar!" piped the ninja-hound who dropped to a crouch then leaped away, running full-tilt back toward the park, back toward where they'd left Hiroo Okame.

* * *

**Haku**

Half-blind and choking, knowing that what he planned to do was going to be painful, Haku swallowed hard. Apparently thinking him helpless (and she wasn't too far off) the kunoichi's relentless attacks had started to fall into a predictable pattern.

Timing the next one, instead of trying to evade, sidestep, leap or roll away, Haku would instead spring straight into her, jumping as hard as he could at the grey blur he saw streaking toward him. The ninja felt the surge of chakra build in his legs, the rush of acceleration as he made his leap then the deadening shock of impact as the two ninjas' bodies crashed together with hard cracks of bone-against-bone, twist and wrack in mid-air like kites in collision, then crumple hard to the grassy ground.

Though dazed, Haku grabbed hold of her, trying to tie up the woman's arms with his and hook his legs around her to keep her too close and out of position to use her clawing techniques…then, THEN, if only he could get one arm free…

But the kunoichi assassin was fast and well trained too, was not nearly as stunned by Haku's stunt as he'd hoped for and had being able to see and breathe as definite advantages. The woman slammed the back of her elbow into Haku's jaw then spun her hips and reversed him easily, sliding around to his side then his back…where she unintentionally got a big face full of poison fumes from where her partner had sprayed Haku only a few seconds ago.

The slender teenager, still reeling, heard the woman gasp then felt her push herself away and stagger off, coughing with every step. The ninja constable crawled to a crouch then rose shakily to his feet and raised his hand for a jutsu, hoping he could complete it before the girl recovered and slashed him open or her confederate, the tea-vendor, hosed him down with more poison like something an overzealous exterminator.

* * *

**Kiba**

_Crap!_ thought Kiba who tried to rush as fast as he could through the woods while at the same time being as careful as he could lest he trigger another tripwire. _This mission's really starting to SUCK!_

It was hard to believe that just a little while ago the genin had thought this assignment a massive waste of his time. Now it seemed daunting and like he was grossly under-qualified for the job.

_I sure wish Hinata was here,_ he couldn't help but think of his teammate, _I could really use her byakugan to find out what's happening, or Shino._

It was times like this that made him realize how nice it was to have friends like that to rely on, with such amazing skills and strengths and whose very presences reassured that everything would turn out ok.

The ninja chanced a look at Akamaru who doggedly (no pun intended) kept pace with him, but who was still ragged and red-stained from the fake tea-vendor's powder. The sight made the boy's jaw tighten as he thought about what he was going to do to that enemy ninja, like making his damn urn fit into a VERY uncomfortable place.

Kiba hurdled over a fallen tree while his ninja-hound raced through a gap under it. It was only going to take them a couple of minutes to clear the forest, but it seemed like forever. The guy he was supposed to protect, Hiroo Okame, as capable as he seemed might already be dead – then Kiba, and probably the whole Hidden Leaf Village would be screwed.

_Ah, damn it, I screwed up!_ he fumed, furious with himself. _I let that guy draw me away from his real objective. That kinda play's day-one stuff and I should have known better. I should've been smarter!_

Up ahead the sunlight streamed in bright beams through emerald tree canopies and glowed between the trunks. They were almost there. Unwilling to break stride, Kiba and Akamaru flew past the last of the trees onto the rolling lawns of Senju Park where he saw, once his eyes had adjusted to the changing light, that things were not looking especially good for Hiroo Okame BUT the girly-looking mist-ninja was definitely still alive!

He was on the grass, actually, wrestling with some woman in a silver shirt, while the tea-vendor guy stood a distance away, ready but unable to let loose with his poison spray while the two were entangled.

Kiba snarled, nose crinkling as he bared his teeth. This time, he would definitely NOT be late.

Springing towards the three-combatants, the pair covered the ground in a flash. The tea-vendor startled, looked towards them and started to raise his nozzle to fire but Akamaru jumped at his head, knocking him off-balance, while Kiba's kunai flashed and cut the hose connecting nozzle to urn. The tea-vendor shouted in alarm as noxious fluid jetted explosively from the severed, pressurized hose, bathing him as he thrashed around trying desperately to free himself from the urn's straps.

The woman meanwhile had outwrestled Okame but for some reason was staggering away from him. Whatever that was all about, Kiba didn't care. It was time to take her down. And though he hated to push Akamaru after what the little guy had been through he didn't see that had much choice.

"Come on, Akamaru," Kiba urged, using jutsu to again transform his partner into a double of himself, "FANG-OVER-FANG!"

Gathering speed, the two criss-crossed their paths and let their chakra energies merge. As Kiba finished his hand signs, the two leaped, and went spinning and twisting in the air, corkscrewing like a tornado toward their surprised target. The woman's face went wide with shock; she managed to leap away but not without taking glancing blows under the chin and into her ribs and legs from the pair's storm of pin-wheeling strikes.

Maintaining their jutsu, Kiba and Akamaru caromed off the ground, using it to push off from, reversed course then stuck the kunoichi again, this time fully. Blows rained down on her from every side and the woman flew back toward the tree line where she landed in a battered heap.

_Enough of this,_ thought Kiba who was determined this time not to let himself get distracted. _Who knows what other surprises these sound-ninja, or whoever they are, have in store._ Adjusting his flow of energy, the genin ended his jutsu and let an exhausted Akamaru return to his normal canine state. _I'm just gonna grab Okame and get him the hell out of here. Then the REAL ANBU can sort out the rest._

But when he looked back toward where Okame had been, the ninja was gone. Kiba looked around frantically then saw the constable stumbling half-blindly toward the edge of the forest.

"Hey! Wait!" the young leaf-ninja shouted and started after him, but it was too late.

The visitor from the Hidden Mist Village reached out with one hand to guide himself through the trees while the other flashed through a series of seals.

_Is that…is he doing jutsu one-handed?_ Kiba marveled, taken-aback. _He can't do that!_

But as impossible as it seemed a thick mist rose up in the ninja's wake, filling the air and reducing visibility to zero.

"Wait up, Okame!" howled Kiba between cupped hands. "Hey! I'm on YOUR side!"

* * *

**Haku**

Tendrils of mist from the park beyond crept over the forest floor, snaking through the trees and pooling thicker in its little leaf-strewn valleys and depressions. All was eerily quiet.

A lone figure, a slender boy with long, black hair, wearing sea-blue fatigue pants, and a vest covered by layered, senbon-filled pouches, dropped down silently from a bough obscured by foliage then broke into a run towards Konoha's streets on the other side of the woods.

From the shadows between the trees behind him, a man in grey slacks emerged, seized the younger ninja by the shoulder and spun him around, spitting a stream of foul liquid into the surprised teenager's face.

Haku choked and staggered back, his face blistering as his skin smoldered; eyes turning bright red with burst blood vessels. The young shinobi then lost all color, becoming semi-transparent for a moment, before he turned completely into water which fell to the ground with an undulant splash.

The older ninja gasped in surprise then leaped away, wove evasively through the trees then bounded for the protective cover of a patch of dense underbrush. While still in mid-stride, a single, silent, silver blur struck him in the back of the head below the skull, and severed his spinal cord. The man went limp and fell, limbs flailing, face expressionless into the tangle where he remained for a moment before vanishing with a burst of dispersed chakra. All that remained was a similarly-shaped mound of dead vines.

Silence once again.

"Yo! Kid!" a voice echoed through the trees, though it was impossible to tell from where. "You're kind of wearin' out that water-clone thing, don't cha think?"

The words faded. Nothing stirred, not even birds or insects, until at last:

"As long as it keeps working," a voice low and lilting, confident and feminine answered, "why should I stop?"

Silence returned.

On a bough not too far away, the tea-vendor, conspicuous without his metal urn, and thoroughly saturated with his own brew of venoms though apparently without effect, frowned but nodded his head. His supposed 'target' had a point. The ninja turned then hopped up higher into the next tree but drew abruptly to a stop as the mist-ninja himself dropped down onto a limb at the same level not a stone's throw from him.

That the boy had shed his poison-contaminated high-collared grey vest was the first thing the intruder noticed.

"I guess you made the switch when you went to the bathroom," the man called out as the two regarded each other across the distance.

Haku nodded. "I really did have to go but it seemed like an opportune moment. And there was plenty of water."

"And I guess the real you was hiding out the whole time?"

"Yes, on the restroom's roof, on the other side of the ridge. The height gave me a positional advantage." Zabuza's student sniffed the air once, made a face then raised a thin, dark eyebrow. "Did you intend to soak yourself in your own poisons?"

The tea-vendor seemed annoyed as he glanced aside first but then admitted genially, "No, no, it just kind of worked out that way. But," he continued happily, "no big deal. My clan raised me on the stuff, weaned me on poisons, toxins and venoms as a baby so, as you can see for yourself, I've pretty-much built up an immunity."

"So it seems."

The strange shinobi grunted noncommittally. "So," he began anew while pacing back and forth along his bough. "A ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist; I guess the sucky way this is working out for us so far is our fault for not giving you the credit you guys' reputation deserves. I gotta say though, you don't look much like a killer to me."

Haku nodded then stated: "And you're a ninja from the Village Hidden in the Sound. To be honest, I don't know what your reputation is." Answering the shift in the assassin's clever expression, the young shinobi continued, "I only _just_ figured out that not all of you left Konoha after your defeat four months ago. Some of you stayed, blending in as newcomers, or taking the places of those you'd killed, waiting for the chance to strike again."

The fake tea-vendor nodded. "Mm-hmm, that's about the size of it."

"One thing I would like to know," inquired Haku with an upward tilt of his delicate chin, "what makes ME deserving of such an honor?"

The man grinned. "Being an emissary from Kirigakure of all places, if you were murdered here in the Hidden Leaf Village your Mizukage would certainly get pissed off – maybe even enough to go to war. My master would be well pleased to have the Mist finish what his Sound started. Sorry," he conceded almost politely, "but that makes YOU what we call a 'high-value target'. Heh, I sure never thought I'd see the day when a mist-ninja shows up here and walks around like he's on vacation or something."

Haku, dumbfounded at first, rolled his eyes and chuckled softly. "I…I don't even know where to begin with what's wrong with your logic."

"Oh, is that so?" the sound-ninja spat back, clearly insulted. "Well I don't know what kind of deal brought you here, maybe a trade, maybe a treaty, but before you get too comfortable with your new Leaf Village 'friends' just ask yourself: how do you think a team of sound-ninja infiltrators THIS big managed to hide out for four months undetected, huh?"

The willowy-limbed teenager thought for a moment then looked at the sound-ninja squarely. "You're insinuating that you had help on the inside. But I don't see how anyone in the Leaf Village could possibly benefit from --."

"Listen," the sound-ninja interrupted, raising both hands and gesturing back and forth, "you and I are just pieces in play. But everything's different higher up on the food chain when you can see the whole board. If you were the Hokage, or somebody of influence like that, don't you think that having us around could be really useful like when you needed something bad to happen and someone to blame it on?" He paused for effect then gave Haku a leering smile before he intoned: "Like when you needed somebody KILLED? You be surprised how seemingly contrary ends can dovetail. Do you get it now?"

Haku's large, grey eyes narrowed. "An interesting insight," he commented. "But why tell me?"

"Because you're f-cked," the ninja explained to him curtly. "And you don't have to be. You got talent – the kind MY boss appreciates. I guarantee he'd make it worth your while."

"Pass," answered Haku with a scowl.

The tea-vendor goggled slightly, as if genuinely surprised. "Oh, like living in the Land of Water is so great. You really should reconsider."

"Why's that?" replied the young ninja. "All in all, I'm not doing so badly."

The tea-vendor leveled his gaze. "You say that now, but there's still more than one way you can lose. Even if we can't kill you we could kill someone else, that Inuzuka kid for example, and make it look like YOU did it. The end result would be the same." The man produced a senbon then casually flipped it aside. The long needle spun end over end on its way to the ground below. "You left an awful lot of these things lying around. Who knows whose body they could end up in?"

For a moment Haku considered his situation then decided almost immediately on a course of action. It wasn't difficult. Of a half-dozen choices, only one had any resonance.

Haku's eyes flickered up and noticed that the tea-vendor had let something drop from his long sleeves into each of his palms. Maybe the sound-ninja had followed the teenager's train of thought or maybe the man said all he'd said just to stall or get into his head. Either way, the teenager's expression triggered something in the tea-vendor who, in a flash of movement, flung out his arms while Haku raised his palm to the center of his chest, edge out.

Eggshells filled with poisonous powder detonated right on target but a fraction of a second late. Haku had already vanished into a whirling wind.

* * *

**Kiba**

"Ah, crap," said the young ninja who considered his plight as he made his way through the misty woods, trying to track down the wayward Hiroo Okame. "It just figures that all hell would break loose on MY mission."

He rolled his eyes and sighed wearily. _Just stop it, Kiba. Whining about it's not going to get the job done. And there's still a chance you can pull this clusterf-ck out of the fire. But you're gonna have to dig deep, _the boy thought, _really, really, really...REALLY deep._

Akamaru, close by his partner's side, sniffed the air diligently but even he was having trouble scenting out the mist-ninja in this haze and with that tea-vendor's poisons fouling the air.

_Okame,_ thought Kiba and he realized he'd been way too quick to judge him by appearances alone.

_I should have known better, and I DO know better…at least, that's one of the answers I got right on the written test._ The lesson seemed to highlight the difference between knowing the theory and actually putting it to use. _And, after all, no one would EVER guess how tough Hinata is just from how she looks and acts, _he reaffirmed, _as gentle and pretty as she is._

_And as for Shino, well…_

Kurenai-sensei had told them once that the Mist Village was little more than an incubator for soulless killers, though that description didn't quite seem to fit this Okame guy. As expert as THIS mist-ninja was with those senbon, the only way he could NOT have hit him and Akamaru earlier was if he'd gone out of his way not to.

_Senbon,_ considered Kiba, _he took out all those ninjas with freakin' senbon!_

Senbon and shuriken were pretty common weapons, dangerous in the right hands, but easy enough for any real ninja to dodge or deflect or so at least the leaf-genin had thought. But like Iruka-sensei had explained to them back before he'd graduated, _'There are NO basic techniques and no advanced ones, only the mastery with which they're applied'._

_True enough,_ Kiba had to agree and wished he was one of those people who could learn as well from books as from experience.

But what else seemed weird about the guy, other than how girly he looked, was how much he seemed to get along with people, especially Sakura and Kakashi-sensei. If anything, they'd seemed happy to see him.

_Hmm,_ Kiba wondered, _could they have met before? Is that possible?_

A sudden growl from Akamaru quieted his thoughts. It was the only warning Kiba got before a silver and yellow shape darted down from the trees and whizzed close to him. Despite throwing himself to all-fours, he could feel pain lance across his back, the tough fabric of his coat tear and pull, then the hot trickle of blood.

From high up, his attacker struck again in blurring motion, bounded off the ground and slashed at his neck. Kiba jumped aside and tried to counter with a kick but it was far too slow. Again and again attacks came and went until the genin was able to find cover in the middle of where three thick trees grew close together.

The boy panted for breath, grateful for the respite.

_Dammit!_ he cursed to himself. _I thought she was down for the count!_

"Leaf-ninja, huh?" a woman's voice drifted down to him. "I gotta say, your jutsu's not bad. But let's just see how you do against mine."

Akamaru growled between pointy teeth while Kiba frowned. "Last time I checked the scoreboard it was 'good-guys' about twenty and you scrubs, ZERO!"

Laughter echoed. "Those guys? Please. They were excess baggage; we never should have relied on them." The kunoichi fell silent for a time and when she spoke again her voice came from an entirely different direction. "Look at you – a boy and his dog. Are you really leaf-ninja? How you guys beat back our invasion, I'll never know."

Kiba clenched his teeth and snarled back: "yeah, well, you're about to find out how!"

"That's big talk…from a cornered animal."

The boy grimaced at her words which, for right now, rang truer than he would have liked. Up above and around him, Kiba could hear the ninja fly from branch to branch, looking for just the right place to attack him from again.

_This is no good,_ the ninja assessed. She's got me pinned down. _Meanwhile, who knows where that Okame guy went off to?_

"Just who are you anyway?" Kiba called, hoping to buy time while he came up with a plan.

"Kaori," the kunoichi answered proudly, "the desert eagle."

The boy made a face, his expression turning puzzled. "Hold on," he shouted. "Are you…are you from the SAND Village?"

"That's right," echoed the voice. "I've waited all these months to get another shot. You may have won the last battle, but it's a long way from being over."

Kiba stared then tossed his head in disbelief. "It IS over!" he bellowed, fists clenching. "Don't you know anything? The Sand and Leaf Villages are ALLIES now."

"Ha!" cried Kaori in return, "you'd like me to believe that, wouldn't you?"

"It's true, dammit! Look, Sound f-cked you over. They used you then betrayed you. That snake-bastard Orochimaru KILLED the Fourth Kazekage then took his freakin' place! HE'S the one that got you guys to attack us!"

The woman's pealing laugher rang out. "That's some story. Necessity really is the mother of inventions…AND inventiveness. There's no way that's true."

Kiba clapped his hand over his forehead and rubbed it. "How can you not know? We've been at peace for four months now, FOUR MONTHS! Did that poison guy really keep you in the dark for THAT long? Don't tell me you've been drinking his tea!" In the limited space he had inside the encirclement of trees, the young ninja stamped his feet in frustration. "Look, Gaara, Temari and Kankuro were JUST HERE like, only a few weeks ago. If you'd been paying attention, MAYBE you could have asked them!"

"That's enough!" the woman roared angrily. "I won't listen to any more of your bullsh-t; you're not talking your way out of this. You're gonna die, plain and simple."

Kiba shook his head. _Great!_ he summarized sarcastically. _Oh, this is just great. So…if Okame dies, Lady Tsunade will get all pissed-off and I'm screwed – I'll be pushing a broom. If this Kaori-%#* dies, then Sunagakure will probably find out about it, get all pissed-off and I'm screwed again, and if *I* die then I'm most-definitely screwed even though NOBODY'S going to be pissed-off. Sh-t!_

He tried again. "Can't we just --."

"NO!"

_That's what the hell I thought. Fine, have it your way,_ Kiba grumbled and started to wrap what was left of his blood-stained grey jacket around his left forearm, picked up a branch roughly the size of his arm that lay nearby then looked down at Akamaru who awaited anxiously. "On three," he whispered.

When the short, silent countdown had run its course, the leaf-ninja detonated a smoke bomb at his feet, waited a moment for the cloud to develop then made a run for it. Kaori was upon him almost the instant he reappeared. Her three-fingered claw tore toward him but Kiba raised his arm from the drifting smoke and weathered the blow with the armor the jacket wound around his arm provided. Pivoting sharply, the young ninja swung down at the woman's head with his branch which burst into a shower of bark and yellow splinters when it hit.

The sand-ninja grunted, bent by the impact, but dropped to her back and kicked up into Kiba's stomach as the leaf-ninja leaped at her. Though the young genin went sailing, he landed on his feet nimbly and sprang back in time to seize Kaori's ankle then yank her back down as she tried to leap up again into the trees.

The kunoichi buried the point of her elbow into Kiba's back then tried to clutch him behind the neck and knee him, but the ninja retaliated first with an uppercut that clipped her chin. Knocked back on her heels, Kaori barely avoided the cross the followed and the sweeping kick that came after that.

Kiba pressed forward, hoping to get the upper hand, but the girl seized hold of his wrist. The tips of her powerful fingers dug into his skin, crushing nerves against bones. Jolts of pain shot through the genin's body as he went lifeless for a moment, more than enough time for the sand-ninja to lash out with a three-fingered claw. Instinctively, the boy's free hand came across and grabbed her wrist, stopping it only inches away from his exposed throat.

Kaori surged and shoved forward, pushing Kiba back through the forest until finally she pinned him against a tree with one hand helpless in her grip while the other fought a losing battle against her clawed fingers which, inch by inch, forced their way forward.

But the woman's leer and smile of grim victory turned to shock as she cried out, eyes wincing shut, leg buckling. She lurched away from Kiba then looked down and saw that his puppy had sunk his teeth deeply into the back of her unguarded ankle.

"Sh-t!" she cried angrily then slashed at the ninja-hound who was wise enough to let go and run off rather than take the blow. The kunoichi twisted evasively but it was no good. Kiba flew at her, connecting hard with a punch square in the face that sent the sand-ninja flying across the forest with blood streaming from her nose.

Kiba ran after her, eager to keep his advantage, as the girl fell backwards apparently off-balance, but then rolled, back-flipped and vaulted back into the trees where the genin and his puppy declined to follow.

Glaring down at Kiba, Kaori wiped the blood from her face with a hand then shook it off with a contemptuous wave. The kunoichi looked again at her red-washed hand and grinned with knowing superiority.

Kiba skidded to a halt, his braking feet leaving trails in the fallen leaves.

As the woman completed her summoning jutsu, a dark hole in space opened before her and from it a stream of raptorial shapes poured forth with wings beating, talons flexing and screams tearing shrilly through the air.

* * *

_I wish this was my job, just write fanfiction ALL day long :):):):):):) Anyway, please leave a review and let me know what you think, what you liked and where I went astray._

_Thanks for reading!!_

_--J_

* * *


	6. Mission to Konohagakure Part 6

_Hi and welcome back! I hope you enjoy Chapter 6._

_Oh, and happy Valentine's Day ;)_

_--J_

* * *

**Haku**

In the forest's quiet the two ninjas battled, passing like flickering shadows between the trees, over the ground, and through the branches high above as both tried to get position on their unseen opponents.

Over a series of brief, intense skirmishes that had ended as quickly and unexpectedly as they'd began, the ninja from the Hidden Sound Village had rediscovered how fast and accurate his strangely feminine and sweet-faced adversary could be, and quickly adjusted his tactics to never allow the young shinobi a straight, unobstructed shot with his senbon throwing-spines. More then that, he was starting to realize that the boy was clever and experienced far beyond his years, and that all the rookie mistakes he'd been counting on to exploit simply weren't going to happen.

The ninja from Wave Country, for that was the place he thought of as home, found his new enemy uncommonly treacherous, possessed of a devious mind and armed with practically every kind of poison imaginable along with an insidious variety of ways to deliver that poison – in darts, powders, grenades and squirting liquids. The teenager's foe was opportunistic too, knew how to lay traps, pick his spots and was certain to pounce at any advantage.

Both had learned from past mistakes and could no longer be drawn out, lured, diverted or distracted so easily; especially not with water-clones, shadow-clones, replacements or other gen-jutsu.

That was why when a 'Haku' showed up, out in the open, gazing up and around with a lazy, abstracted look into the trees with hands clasped casually behind his back as he strolled with careless abandon between the trunks, _nothing_ happened.

After a few minutes of this, a 'tea-vendor' appeared a few dozen yards away, wandering with equal nonchalance along a parallel course.

Taking notice of each other as if old acquaintances, they turned slowly and approached. Closer and closer they came, feet crunching softly over the fallen leaves and green vines, until they stood barely ten paces from one another. Beams of dappled sunlight glowed through the canopies above, splashing over the forest floor and the two combatants' calm faces as they regarded each other.

'Haku' tilted his head and smiled demurely with eyebrow raised while the 'tea-vendor' returned a smug grin, his head bobbing slowly up and down.

"So," ventured 'Haku' in a conversational manner. "What do you think?"

The ninja really might have been taken for a schoolgirl out on a hike except for his mist-ninja fatigues worn under a vest covered in senbon-filled quivers which lent him a more masculine and militant edge. Even so, it was impossible not to note how strikingly the teenager's warlike attire contrasted with the delicately beautiful features of his youthful face and gentle, grey eyes.

The man hunched slightly, eyes narrowing to slits as he scrutinized his young opponent, raised a forefinger hesitantly then lowered it toward him. "I'll be damned. That's the real you," he ventured with a speculative, professional air, "isn't it?"

The slender ninja hummed as if deep in thought. "I don't know myself anymore," he returned with a coy, geisha's look. "To tell you the truth, I've kind of lost track."

Silence fell, burdened with dread.

The sound-ninja squinted again as he looked at the boy harder and rolled the tip of his tongue around the inside of his cheek. "Yeah," he settled surely in a heavy drawl, this time much more confidently. "It's you."

'Haku' gave a concerned shrug then illuminated: "There's only one way to find out, you know."

The 'tea-vendor's' lips spread into a toothy smile as his eyes went wide with insight. "Call!" the shinobi blurted harshly than erupted into an all-out attack.

A flick of his wrists sent half a dozen grenades, poisonous powders cased in eggshells, shooting forth in an encompassing spread that burst around, behind, above and before their target in clouds of intense, violent color – ochre yellows, swampy greens and blood reds.

The deadly, vivid display floated for a moment, filling the air, drifting uncontested, uninterrupted and long enough for the assassin to imagine victory, but then whirled suddenly into an ugly, miasmal brown as a powerful wind sprang up from nowhere, growing almost immediately into a fierce, mud-colored cyclone. The tea-vendor stared wide-eyed into the spinning current, almost deafened by its roar, then shielded his eyes as it swelled, blew forcefully past him and dissipated into the surrounding trees.

"What the hell?!" the ninja muttered in shock only an instant before the edge of Haku's palm slammed hard into the man's cheekbone and sent him staggering back.

Strikes followed one after the other from all around and in blistering combinations of kicks, elbows, phoenix-eye punches, flat and bladed palms, from every angle and faster then the tea-vendor could counter, block, evade or even see. The sound-ninja covered up and weathered the blows, backpedaling awkwardly and grunting at every impact, then tripped, fell and went tumbling downhill as the uneven ground dipped away at a shallow angle behind him.

Haku leaped after the assassin, jumping high and kicking the ninja hard in the chest, then struck him soundly in the eye with the back of his bent wrist. But as the teenager landed on the leaf-strewn ground, coiling his legs to spring again, he was suddenly overcome by a bitter, burning stench that constricted his lungs and burned his eyes like acid.

Nearly blind and choking, Haku staggered forward, his feet dragging pitiably. The colors and shapes of the surrounding forest merged, distorted then came crashing down on the young ninja as his vision swam and his enfeebled muscles refused to function. The black-haired teenager's eyes widened then as he lurched, slumped down to his hands and knees and gasped uselessly for breath like a fish marooned on land.

With the sounds of their fight fading little-by-little into stillness, the tea-vendor slowly picked himself up. Though covered with dead leaves and twigs which dripped off him as he rose, limping from the beating he'd taken and covering his swollen left eye tenderly with one hand, a ghastly smile stretched across his face.

"Gotcha, didn't I," said the assassin with a laugh as Haku again attempted to rise but failed.

Reaching out then with a palsied hand toward what seemed to be nothing more than a small swell in the ground, the young shinobi tore a handful of leaves away and found the impostor tea-vendor's urn hiding there with all its contents spent.

"Your friend with the doggy was pretty smart the way he cut my hose and all," said the sound-ninja, "but as you can see I still found a use for my urn. That poison I was spraying at you, when not under pressure, expands into a gas that's heavier than air."

Haku, his face darkening, veins throbbing, looked around to see that he was indeed at the base of a not-so-shallow depression – the perfect place for such a trap.

"All I really had to do was set it up and lure you to it," the sound-ninja explained needlessly. "Clever, huh? I like to call it my _'Silent but Deadly'_" The man took a deep breath of the poisoned air as if to show off his immunity then drew forth a kunai and tossed it lazily from hand to hand. "Now pay attention, 'cause this is my very favorite part," he announced then relished in the mispronunciation: "the coop-de-grass."

Grinning from ear to ear as he strode purposefully toward Haku, the sound-ninja hardly noticed the rising wind which announced itself at first as a whisper through the trees then louder as a rush. Only when scraps of dry leaves and twigs tumbled past his feet did he look up from his trapped opponent into a blast of air so cold, sudden and intense that it blew him off his feet.

The instant it passed, the startled tea-vendor looked around frantically with his good eye then flung his kunai at the young shinobi's obscured shape, almost cackling with glee as he heard it strike home. Rolling to his feet, the man stared at the mist-ninja who simply stood there completely still and with eyes unblinking, then, as the clouds of debris stirred up by the puzzling wind slowly settled, his eye settled on the kunai buried bloodlessly in the middle of his teenaged opponent's smooth forehead.

"Naw," said the assassin, immediately incredulous. "Something's wrong here."

The tea-vendor approached the girlish shinobi cautiously, took out another kunai then tapped the tip of the blade on the top of his adversary's head, producing a hard, resounding 'clank'. The man frowned, pushed and the boy fell over, straight over like a statue because that's what it was – a convincingly life-like statue formed entirely of ice.

The ninja scowled, looked around peevishly then shook his head. "That sumbitch did it to me again," he mused then grinned as if it had been all worthwhile. "But at least now I know your secret."

* * *

**Kiba**

Some would call it a strategic retreat, others: running for their lives! Either way, Kiba and Akamaru flew through the forest around Senju Park at a pace that anyone would consider suicidal were they not being chased by a screeching, ravenous flock of demonic bird-creatures which followed close behind them, crashing through and around the trees like an inky tidal wave.

One of the sand-ninja, Kaori's, minions, a raptor whose gleaming, obsidian eyes, hooked beak, taloned feet, and feathers were all so glossy black that it defied definition, clawed at Kiba's bare arm. The leaf-genin growled and slashed back with the edge of his kunai and the summoned monster vanished with a blur of disrupted chakra.

The boy leaped, kicked off a tree-trunk high in the air and spun, throwing a pair of his knives into the mass of flapping creatures tailing him before he landed and resumed his flight. Though he'd dispelled three or four more with the effort, it looked like there were three or four THOUSAND more to go!

_And there's no way I got THAT many kunai, _Kiba thought furiously as he ran.

He was in a bad spot, no doubt about it. If he made a stand, Kaori's birds would tear him and Akamaru to shreds. The creatures were too close for him to make hand signs for a jutsu, and it didn't seem like any of the ones he knew would do any good.

The genin grunted in frustration. His jaw tensed then fell open as the boy suddenly alighted on an idea. _Oh, yeah! _he remembered excitedly._ That sound-ninja's backpack!_

Reality set in, dousing the hopeful spark. His pursuers were much closer to him than he was to it.

_If I can just GET to it._

More of the black birds came at him, those faster than the lagging pack, and harried him, beating his head and back with their wings, pecking with razor beaks and grasping with fish-hook claws.

_Sh-t!_ cursed Kiba who slashed away while Akamaru leaped and seized one in his jaws. Though the pair made short work of those few it only seemed to cut into the shortening distance they had from the rest of the flock.

Both boy and puppy continued in an all-out sprint, weaving through the trees, up and over hills, gullies and fallen logs until another advancing group tore into them. Kiba ripped and stabbed frantically with kunai in either hand, without even the scant protection of the jacket he'd been forced to shed. Akamaru, barking savagely, leaped and bit at their feathered adversaries but then howled as he was snagged in mid-air as one of them hooked the puppy's furred skin and flapped frantically to stay aloft.

"Oh no you don't!" yelled Kiba who rushed forward and slashed the dark, bird-creature into nothingness, then was himself almost buried beneath a black carpet of the feathered things as still more descended upon him.

The young leaf-ninja thrashed and slashed his way to freedom, beating back the oncoming swarm with Akamaru's help, but again the little ninja-hound was caught -- this time by a group of three that started to carry him off with the power of their combined lift.

Kiba bared his teeth and again threw off his attackers, intent on saving his friend, but the three bird-creatures vanished suddenly even before he could overtake them in bursts of chakra followed by more and more in clusters of three and four as senbon flashed through the air in silvery blurs.

Akamaru dropped to the ground and ran back to his partner who looked up at the unexpected sight of the mist-ninja, Hiroo Okame, leaping down from the trees to join them.

Okame's wide, grey eyes darted then, in the blink of eye, his artful hands flew to his vest which was lined top-to-bottom with overlapping quivers full of senbon and sent them shooting forth by the dozens faster and more precisely than even a canny observer would believe possible. All around the three ninja (two human and one puppy), the black birds vanished in a repeating series of staccato pops. And though the mist-shinobi's astonishing display hadn't even dented their numbers the flock withdrew, settling back further into the trees.

Kiba, a little taken-aback, looked at Okame and his brow knitted -- first at the stranger's skill and then at his appearance.

_This…this guy looks even MORE like a girl close up! _he noticed. _Not JUST a girl, but like, a really, really __good-looking__ girl._

The discrepancy puzzled him.

_Maybe the Hokage got it wrong…Okame couldn't REALLY be a guy._

The leaf-ninja looked the teenager up and down then his lupine eyes settled on his (her?) chest and he frowned disappointedly.

_Hmm,_ Kiba concluded, _kinda flat there. I guess he COULD be a guy…but STILL…_

The mist-ninja in question looked at the genin looking at him, startled for a moment, then asked coolly but pointedly: "What?!"

"Nothing!" Kiba protested harshly then frowned.

"We've got to get out of here," they said at the same time though in entirely different voices: Kiba's a growling, low-tenor; Okame's a mature and level contralto. Both grimaced then looked around as the black flock began to close back in, cawing malevolently and swirling in a wide circle around them.

Kiba, Akamaru and Okame were now completely surrounded.

"Dammit!" cursed Kiba as he brandished his pair of kunai, then quivered angrily when he saw how little good they would do against _this_ force once they began their attack.

Okame pressed his thin lips together then spared him a look. "Do you mind if I…," he began then gestured vaguely.

The genin's face screwed with doubt but, "Hey," Kiba grunted back casually, "knock yourself out."

The visitor from Wave Country settled in a stance, took a breath, circled his hands then slowly pressed one palm up toward the sky while the other pushed down toward the earth.

Kiba made a face. "So what's all that sup--," he began then stopped short when he felt Okame's chakra build and the temperature drop sharply. Water beaded in fat drops of condensation all around them then froze into white frost. The still air began to move in fitful currents and eddies, swelled then stirred through the leaves in tight, rotating spirals that circled around them in a protective arc. "Just," began Kiba, mystified, "just what kind of jutsu IS this?!"

The circling bird-creatures' cackles and cries grew louder as they felt the disturbance. Their collective furor seemed to wane for a moment before they gradually worked themselves up then attacked en masse, curling in from all directions.

An explosion of wind and cold rose to meet them. Kiba shivered, too shocked to speak, then hugged his arms around himself and Akamaru for warmth with their breath misting white as rows of spinning dust-devil vortexes raced around them, sucking in Kaori's birds from the air and vacuuming the surrounding forest almost bare. Branches whipped, trees swayed and flurries of snowflakes darted in the suddenly wintry air. Almost lost in the roar were the sounds of the monstrous birds vanishing as the demon winds battered and froze them.

On and on, the birds came in wave after inexhaustible wave but then at last, Okame staggered back as if stricken and the wind's fury subsided. Kiba nearly choked then as a wave of _warm_ air flooded over them, thick with humidity, and his eardrums creaked painfully from the pressure change.

Of Kaori's bird-creatures, not one was left.

Gradually, Kiba lowered his arms and let Akamaru down. The genin's astounded eyes roamed then over the wind-wrecked landscape, the bare branches, trees stripped of bark and leaves and the circular tracks dug deep into the naked, frozen earth around them. "I…I don't believe it," he mumbled in shock, gave Okame a questioning look then came alert as a figure emerged from the trees on the other side of what was now a clearing.

It was the tea-vendor.

The sound-ninja, this time sporting a black eye, looked around appreciatively at the destruction then slowly applauded. "You'll have to forgive me, kid," the man began as he clapped his hands. "I'm a little slow. I shoulda noticed that you're a little…'different'; that you're not quite like the other ninjas."

"Yeah?!" roared Kiba defensively while Akamaru snarled and barked. "And just what the _hell_ do you mean by that?!"

"Not YOU, dumb-ass!" the assassin hastened to clarify, "our 'friend' from Kirigakure."

"Quiet," hissed Okame with soft intensity, eyes suddenly ablaze.

"'Cause, unless I missed my guess, THAT was a gen-u-wine kekkei-genkai."

The tea-vendor's head snapped back as a senbon flashed deep into his eye socket. The man's body stiffened, went limp then vanished before it hit the ground. "Aw, come on!" his voice continued unabated from somewhere among the trees. "I was f-cking COMPLIMENTING you! I was just sayin'! Anyway," the sound-ninja's observations began again in a less confrontational tone, "it's all the more reason you should sign up with US. My boss just LOVES kids who got a bloodline; can't seem to get enough of 'em!"

Kiba glanced again at Okame. His unlikely ally was hunched over with hands braced on his knees, nearly exhausted and panting for breath. Whatever he'd just done, he'd had to push himself hard. Looking closer, the genin furrowed his brow, seeing clearly enough in the severity of the teenager's changed expression that the sound-ninja wasn't just blowing smoke.

_So this guy…this guy's like Hinata too?_ Kiba blinked then shook his head and grimaced sourly. _Oh, THAT just figures, yeah, why NOT another little surprise…because there hasn't been enough of those so far – 'D'-rank mission, MY ASS!_

_(Stupid Hokage.)_

The young leaf-ninja looked around then crouched down low so he could whisper into Akamaru's ear. "The backpack," he said softly but urgently, "get me that backpack we took off the other sound-ninja, ok?"

The ninja-hound yipped eagerly then raced off.

"Be careful, boy!" Kiba cautioned before he'd gone.

Almost immediately after the puppy vanished into the woods, the sand-kunoichi, Kaori appeared high in the trees above them. Her mouth and chin were crusted red from the bloody nose Kiba had given her, and her silver garment hopelessly stained, streaked and spotted.

"I have to admit," she began begrudgingly then leaped down, "you're not the scrubs I took you for."

Kiba advanced then gave her an angry stare. "Would you cut it out, already? We're allies now!"

The light-haired woman returned a sour, dismissive look. "Please," she spat, "just when I was starting to respect you.

"Hey!" Kaori called into the forest. "Eueki! Enough of the hide and seek; it's taking too long. Someone's bound to notice us fighting it out here, not to mention the pile of dead bodies back in the park. We got to get this done quick!"

No answer came.

The girl rolled her eyes and gave a frustrated snort at which Kiba grinned.

"Don't worry, he hasn't deserted you _yet_," the genin observed then lobbed a kunai off toward his left where it stuck into a tree.

From right behind it the tea-vendor popped his head, obviously miffed at having been spotted, then walked nonchalantly toward his partner to join her. "A face-to-face fight really isn't my style," the man admitted, "but if it makes you happy…"

"You still _stink_ of poison," Kiba reported cheekily. "And you're not nearly as quiet as you think you are either. But now that you're here, why don't YOU tell Kaori how the Fourth Kazekage's body was found out in the desert, killed MONTHS before the invasion; that it was Orochimaru who murdered him then suckered the Sand Village into attacking us!"

Eueki blew a derisive breath. "Come on, dog-boy" he derided. "You could at least TRY to come up with something a little more believable then that."

Kiba's eyes bugged then settled into a more stable sort of fury. Casting a look at his temporary ally, he called out, "Hey, Okame, back me up here, wouldja?"

The mist-ninja swallowed, collected his breath then looked back at him uncertainly. "I'm sorry, Mr. Inuzuka, I really don't know that much about what happened between your two villages – just what I've heard."

The genin gave the girlish newcomer to Konoha an exasperated look. "Would it kill you to work WITH me?"

"Forget it," demanded Kaori. "I already know how it is. For years, the treaty we were forced to make with the Leaf Village kept us weak, under your thumb and a shadow of the greatness we could've achieved. Well those times are over! All we have to do now is turn one live mist-ninja into one dead one. Whatever the details might be, it'll still look like it's you guys' fault."

"Lady," said Kiba, "you are way, WAY out of your mind."

With that, silence fell. There was nothing more to say.

Kiba's eyes roved between all three ninja and couldn't help but wonder how this would turn out, with four ninja hidden villages represented: Leaf and Mist, Sound and Sand. However it ended (and it was hard to imagine it ending well) it was clear how it would start – Kaori would attack first, that was pretty obvious, with poison-boy Eueki looking for an easy kill.

And Okame? Though his skills were solid and he seemed like an alright guy for someone who didn't look like one (a guy, that is), he was still a major x-factor and it was hard to tell if he could really be relied on. Plus, the further down the block he went with Okame, the weirder he seemed to get!

More then anything the leaf-ninja wished that Aka--.

_Ah!_ thought Kiba as he heard the rustling approach and smiled, cheering inwardly. _THERE he is and right on time as always. Good boy!_

With one last, bounding stride, the ninja-hound landed by Kiba's booted feet with jaws clenched tightly on the strap of a backpack he dragged behind him. Eueki's face pinched with concern as the genin took the backpack then withdrew from it a sheet of paper covered in sigils.

"A paper-bomb?" snickered Kaori. "Am I supposed to be impressed?"

"Kaori," her sound-ninja teammate warned, "Huhn had a whole ream in that pack."

"So what? What's he gonna do -- blow himself up, try to blow US up? There's no way, not when we can see it coming."

Okame, hearing all of this, tilted his head toward the grinning leaf-ninja. "Kiba," he stage-whispered apprehensively, "what are you going to do?"

"Do ya trust me?"

In its intonations, both subtle and not-so-subtle, this question was many things: a dare, a test, a jibe, but also an admission, if one listened closely, that many things hinged upon the answer.

The put-upon mist-ninja blinked at the complexities and nuances a reply of any kind forced him to brush over, frowned, gave the genin a wary look then slowly wiped a finger across his brow. "I _suppose_," he responded in a very reluctant-sounding affirmation.

"Good," said Kiba assertively, his pointy canines flashing as he smiled. "Now, cover me, then run for your life. Whatever it takes, get your ass BACK to the Hokage's Tower."

The black-haired teenager's eyes went wide with alarm. "THAT'S your plan?!"

Without further word or warning Kiba held up his exploding-note and activated it with a surge of chakra.

"Kaori!" the sound-ninja shouted. "Take him, now!"

The kunoichi sprang at Kiba but was turned away as Haku flung a volley of senbon into her path while his free hand formed seals and created a cordon of water-clones.

Eueki gasped then as Kiba thrust the smoldering, sparking paper-bomb back into the backpack, leaped high into the trees and bounded up it all the way to the very top, above the dense canopy of leaves where he spun like a discus-thrower and sent the backpack hurtling upward into the bright, blue Konoha sky.

"SH-T!" cried Eueki who stopped in his tracks, turned and fled; legs and arms pumping furiously.

Haku, who was already off and running as fast as he could go, took the sudden bright flash from above as a sign that he should hit the ground. Conveniently enough, the eruptive **BOOM** and thunderous shockwave that followed almost immediately afterward helped him do just that.

* * *

**Haku**

The street that bounded the forest around Senju Park was filled with onlookers who gawked and pointed upward as they exchanged speculation about the colossal explosion that had gone off only moments ago, drawing leaf-ninjas from all over Konohagakure immediately to the scene. Their murmurs rose even louder and more excited when a cut and bruised, battle-worn Haku emerged from the woods, wandered across the grass then into the street where he brushed himself off as best he could then drew much-needed sips of water from his canteen.

At once, the Hidden Leaf Village's curious citizenry assailed the young ninja with questions. "Hey, what happened?! What was that explosion?! What's going on?! Is it a monster?! Are you alright?! It's not ANOTHER f-cking invasion, is it?! Who the hell are YOU anyway?!" they asked at once.

Haku took a breath to clear his mental fog then eased into 'constable mode,' drawing his jutte and kicking as much base into his woefully non-authoritative voice as he could. "Step back, people!" he warned, gesturing slowly but forcefully with his hands. "Clear the street. Get back to the curb!"

It took a little while for him to coax the required number of people into compliance, but once they did, the rest followed suit as peer-pressure/conformance/herd instinct took hold. Once that was done, Haku turned back and waited at the edge of the grass, wondering what to do.

A lone figure stumbled from the forest just then and the shinobi's hand flashed to his quivers, but he stopped himself in time to see that it was Kiba who mugged a look and raised his hands in an exaggerated gesture of surrender.

Haku grinned with relief. "I can't say I ever would have thought of using a huge explosion as a distress signal," he commented with amiable sarcasm as the clawed, scratched and battered boy approached.

The leaf-genin smiled toothily. "It worked, didn't it?"

Zabuza's student shrugged, not really knowing what else to add.

"Come on, Okame," said Kiba, suddenly serious, as he clapped Haku companionably on the shoulder then turned to go. "I'd better get you back to the Hokage's Tower. She's gonna be pissed."

"You're probably right," Haku offered but then stopped, sniffed in revulsion at where the genin had touched him then slid a trio of senbon into his hand. "By the way, Kiba, where's your little dog?"

"Huh?" said the ninja absently without turning. "Oh, he's just off taking a dump. He'll be back soon."

The teenager trailed Kiba by a few steps, careful not to get too close. "Cute little guy," he continued casually though his grey eyes narrowed. "What's his name?"

"Uh --," Kiba began then pivoted suddenly, spinning around into an onslaught of steel needles which stitched across his chest. An envenomed kunai went sailing from his outstretched left hand.

The crowd on the sidewalk across the street from them gasped in collective shock.

In a blur of disrupted chakra, Kiba the leaf-genin was Eueki the tea-vendor once more and fell to the grass.

"'Uh,'" repeated Haku in disapprobation. "That's a terrible name for a dog – no _personality_. Besides, I remember now, Sakura said it was Akamaru."

Moving warily toward the fallen ninja, Haku startled as he saw what the man held in his other hand – not another kunai but a small gift-wrapped box from the Yamanaka Flower Shop. It was the present Haku had bought there for Mari!

The young ninja stared then approached closer, a litany of curses pulsing through his mind as he vaguely remembered having set it down on the park bench before the sound-ninjas' attack. Keeping his eye on the motionless Eueki, Haku stepped on his wrist to pin it then knelt down and snatched the present back.

The instant he touched it, the sound-ninja's eyes popped open and a jet of thick, emerald fluid spewed from his mouth. Haku turned away and covered the side of his face with his hand which took the brunt of it and was now covered in gloppy, green ejaculate. Furious, the Demon's Apprentice raised his fist then stopped as Eueki laughed.

"You wouldn't hit an opponent after they're already down," the sound-ninja inquired innocently with poison dribbling from his lips, "would you?"

Haku glared but lowered his hand…to the handle of his jutte, took it out and smashed the shinobi squarely between the eyes with the pommel. The man groaned and jerked, his foot twitched a couple of times, then he went still.

"Not if I had a weapon handy," replied the constable acidly then fell back on his rear and tried to shake as much of the contact poison from his hand as he could, then tore off a sleeve from his fatigues and wiped off more.

Taking out his canteen, he washed his hand thoroughly then tied a loose tourniquet around his arm but could already feel the sound-shinobi's venom burning its way into his bloodstream.

Haku cursed himself. _Idiot! Falling for a trick like that. Eueki had a bladder implanted in his throat. All he had to do was twitch his tongue when you came within range._

Reconciling himself to his largely self-inflicted predicament, the teenager folded his legs and sat then tried to calm himself, slow his breath and heartbeat. Like Zabuza had taught him, Haku directed chakra toward his liver and kidneys. There was still a chance, he hoped, that he could metabolize what poison he'd absorbed.

An overwhelming sensation flooded over him, a burning under his skin as his eyelids grew heavy.

_A narcotic effect? An anesthetic? _Haku had just time enough to wonder before everything blurred to grey and he felt himself topple over.

* * *

Blinding white.

Sky.

A blue sky into which loomed four indistinct shapes. They were blurry at first then resolved gradually into faces as Haku's vision finally came into focus.

Without any further explanation necessary, the ninja knew that all this attention couldn't possibly be a good sign. But his back lay flat against what he could tell was cool grass, and the solid stability of the earth under his body made him feel at least a little bit buoyed.

Kiba Inuzuka – the REAL Kiba, Haku assumed, knelt close by his left shoulder. The genin's expression lifted a little at the sight of the mist-ninja coming around then fell back into a reverie of preoccupied thought. From somewhere close by his partner's flank, Haku could just hear the ninja-puppy, Akamaru's, soft, sympathetic whine.

At Kiba's other side hovered a strange boy in a voluminous grey coat with a high collar that covered the brooding figure's neck and the lower part of his ghostly white face. Round, dark glasses, so black they seemed completely opaque, hid eyes that were crowned by thin, black, downward-slanting eyebrows which gave the young ninja an expression far too intense for someone who looked to be only in his early-to-mid-teens; his blue leaf-ninja hitai-ate held back a shock of ebony hair.

"Don't move," said the pale figure to Haku in a voice so cold and inscrutable that Zabuza's student couldn't tell if was a warning or just helpful advice.

Across from the dark-haired shinobi, by Haku's right leg, sat a girl whose expression was a great deal more comforting. Though her frame was hidden by a loose-fitting, pewter-colored, hooded jacket, her pretty, pink-cheeked and rounded face, crowned with lustrous black hair, brimmed with warm compassion.

"You're safe now, Hiroo, um, Mr. Okame," said she in a birdlike voice with such deeply-felt concern that Haku actually felt guilty for having made her feel that way. The girl met his curious gaze for a moment then shyly looked away, and Haku noticed just how different her eyes were – pupils not black but of the purest pearl set within medallions of moonstone white.

With a start, the visiting constable realized just who this was. Of course he had heard of the venerable Hyuuga clan and their near-legendary byakugan, but he'd never expected to meet one.

Looking off to his right, the sight of the fourth leaf-ninja's familiar pink hair, fair skin and emerald eyes settled the teenager and brought a smile immediately to his face.

"Hello, Miss Sakura," Haku greeted her in a rasping voice. "I didn't expect to see _you_ again so soon."

"Me neither," replied the kunoichi who smiled then kidded him as she readied an injection, "but you just _couldn't_ stay out of trouble."

Zabuza's former student laughed lightly. "So it seems."

Sakura showed him the prepped syringe. "This is another round of non-specific antidote. It's just a palliative." Her eyebrows rose with bright inquisitiveness. "You don't mind _needles_ do you?"

Haku blinked, caught off-guard by her unexpectedly wicked sense of humor. "Needles, no…irony on the other hand --," he stopped and winced slightly as the girl gave him the shot.

"I didn't think so," she almost laughed then turned serious again. "How do you feel – any pain, anything unusual?"

The teenager grinned. It really was a marvel to see Sakura like this. Back during her Wave Country mission, the girl had seemed a little unsure, a little hesitant and in many ways languishing in Naruto and Sasuke's shadows. But now, here she was in her element, walking her path in life just like he himself tried to walk his. It was as if providence was as work in this, and the young ninja reigned back on a rush of emotion at seeing that she too had emerged from the transformative cauldron of those experiences stronger than when she'd gone in.

Not wanting to keep the kunoichi waiting, Haku took a quick, mental inventory of his body but most everything seemed within tolerances, all things considered, except for this odd electric tingling on his left arm where Kaori had cut him.

"Yes," Haku reported dutifully, "my arm," he said then raised his head to look at it and was mortified at finding it covered in swarming insects.

"Relax," Sakura soothed before he could flinch…or scream. "It's ok."

Haku looked back at her like she was crazy.

"Those are Aburame clan _medical_ insects. They're grown in a sterile environment and are the best thing around for cleaning wounds."

_'You…you CAN'T be serious!'_ – the words almost flew out of Haku's mouth, but it was clear from Sakura's face that she was in earnest.

Taking a second look with a heady mixture of horror and fascination for as long as he could stand it, the slender teenager saw that there were actually three kinds of bugs working in concert – one cleaned the wound, one pinched the skin together with powerful mandibles while a third sewed it shut with a silk-like extrusion. But however helpful this 'treatment' was supposed to be, there was no getting used to the feeling of bugs crawling all over his skin and in and around an open wound! And now that he'd SEEN it…!

Haku's expression wriggled and he bit his lip to try and keep from squirming.

The Hyuuga girl raised her head. "I know it feels a little, um, a little unsettling, but Shino's insects always do a wonderful job," she piped encouragingly in a voice so sweet and kind that it would have been rude to disagree.

"If – if you say so," the ninja answered in as untroubled a tone as he could manage, then added in a shaky attempt at humor: "Tell me, if I threw up…would it completely ruin my androgynous mystique?"

The Hyuuga kunoichi smiled, but it seemed only out of politeness.

Kiba grunted without enthusiasm.

If Shino even had a sense of humor, Haku's remark failed completely to reach it. Of the four, only Sakura actually laughed.

"Don't quit your day job," advised Kiba.

At last, when Sakura and Shino seemed convinced that their pet swarms had done all they could, the dour, black-haired leaf-ninja put a container up to Haku's arm and the insects very obligingly filed into it.

Haku remembered stories now about clans of insect-tamers but had never seen any before and had no idea that they could be this sophisticated with their art. Sakura, the consummate professional, finished dressing Haku's wounds as Kiba smirked suddenly.

"Hey, Okame," he cajoled, "did you really let that fake tea-vendor guy get the drop on you?"

"It's true, I'm sad to say," Haku admitted then gave the genin a wry look. "He used a transformation jutsu and pretended to be you. It would have worked too except that he was SO well-mannered."

"Oh, ha-ha," the genin replied sarcastically.

Sakura and the Hyuuga girl snickered then rose as a team of white-uniformed medical ninja arrived and loaded Haku onto a stretcher.

The novelty of this experience didn't phase the young ninja at all until Kiba brought the whole proceedings to a crashing halt, backed everybody away with snarled threats of immediate and unrelenting violence then _demanded_ that every member of the team identify themselves to his satisfaction.

Though Sakura took strong exception to "what the hell" her classmate thought he was doing, Haku couldn't help but be impressed at the leaf-genin's surprising thoroughness; and that Kiba had the foresight, after having gone through so much trouble already on his account, not to just hand him over without question to somebody just because they wore a uniform.

"Um…WE are going to take you to the hospital," Sakura explained to Haku at last with a smile that failed to hide a flush of embarrassment at Kiba's outburst, then laid a strong, comforting hand upon his arm. Her accompanying him was part of the deal she'd made to pacify the distrustful Inuzuka. "Your injuries aren't very bad and since we got the sound-ninja and samples of all his poisons, I know we'll be able to give you the right antidotes for whatever he used on you."

Haku smiled and nodded understandingly, gratefully, as the medical ninjas lifted him then carried him away.

* * *

_There! You see that, CPO? You ask for an update, you GET an update. And no cliffhanger this time either. XD_

_I LOOOOOVE this job, Ooo-rah! LOL;)_

_As late as yesterday, this chapter was a MONSTER, 40 page, 12,000+ worder, but I'm going to break it here, edit the second part better, then post it as a mini-chapter sooner than my normal (slow) time frame. I was trying to cram in a little too much, plus this is kind of a good spot for a break anyway._

_I hope you liked this chapter. Please review! ^^,_

_--Jono'_


	7. Mission to Konohagakure Part 7

_Heh...uh, yeah. A "mini" chapter for me, only 5,900 words ^^'. But anyway, I hope you like it --_

_--Jonohex_

**Haku**

Gazing skyward while the ground passed slowly beneath the stretcher on which he lay on his way to the hospital, the black-haired teenager finally began to relax.

Remembering back to when his commander, the Lady Magistrate Orimi Hirai, ordered him to go on this mission to the Hidden Leaf Village, Haku had fully expected that there might be difficulties. But never had he imagined being the target of a bizarre assassination attempt which, in the end, seemed to be nothing more than a case of mistaken identity – wrong place/wrong time as the sound-ninja infiltrators assumed that he was here in some sort of official capacity, sent by the Mizukage.

Haku chuckled at the idea as the measured strides of the leaf medical-ninjas who carried him jostled him gently.

One thing he could say about his job – it was never boring.

Haku thought about his reluctant, wolf-like bodyguard, Kiba and his team, an interesting group to be sure, then the shock he'd felt at waking up and finding his wounded arm covered in Shino's 'medical' insects. He really would have shrieked and thrashed like a child if Kiba, Sakura and the others hadn't been right there watching him.

The ninja's self-deprecating smirk faded from his girlish face as he thought again about Naruto and how he wished he was here, then pink-haired Sakura and her new sensei, Lady Tsunade.

Remembering their surprising conversation in the Hokage's Tower took Haku back to the woman's admission that not everyone in charge here was on the same page or played by the same rules, as Eueki too had alluded. It took him back to the original mission that had brought him to Konohagakure no Sato in the first place…and those two canisters, one black and one white, filled with --.

_The hospital,_ the patient began to consider. _Everyone, even the Uchihas, visits the hospital sometime, when you're sick, injured…for periodic examinations. _Haku's brow furrowed and he hummed thoughtfully as he deduced: _That would be the perfect place to take someone's 'genetic material' – a few tests, an overnight stay with the subject sedated…_

Suddenly the teenager's eyes popped wide. He undid the waist strap that fastened him to the stretcher and hopped off like it was on fire, much to everyone's alarm. Haku wobbled unsteadily when he hit the ground, an effect of the various drugs and chemicals flowing through his system which messed with his reactions, dazedly regained his balance then stood and steadied himself.

"What are you doing?!" scolded Sakura who marched up to him crossly while Kiba and the Hyuuga kunoichi looked on in surprise, and Shino just looked on.

"I mean no offense, Sakura," stated Haku as he tried to focus, blinking rapidly, "but I can't go to your hospital."

The girl's emerald eyes flashed with disbelief then narrowed angrily. "Have you lost your mind?! All we did for you just now was _field medicine_. Who knows what that sound-ninja's poisons might be doing to you – like slowly killing you or, I don't know, inducing PARANOIA?!"

"I'll take my chances," muttered the constable flatly. His head snapped then toward the medical ninjas. Having recovered from their initial surprise at their patient's escape, they'd set down the empty stretcher and now seemed to be positioning themselves discreetly to subdue him. "Don't try it," warned Haku with a flash of anger. It was more than enough to remind them that he still carried a jutte and wore an arsenal of senbon which trumped their hypodermics.

The three other leaf-genin rushed up to join Sakura, with Kiba taking the lead.

"Hey, Okame, what gives?" prevailed the boy, clearly peeved. "What, are you scared of the hospital or something?"

Haku fought for calm then crossed his long, slender arms defiantly. "I am not _scared_ to go to the hospital," he asserted. "I have my reasons why I should _not go_ to the hospital. And though I would rather not appear to disappoint you, Kiba, and certainly not you either, Sakura, I'm afraid they are non-negotiable."

Arguments volleyed back and forth, with Kiba and Sakura's repeated urgings crashing against Haku's steadfast refusals.

Kiba, surprisingly, came up with the most reasonable alternative – that Haku should just come over to his house where the genin's sister, Hana, could check him over. Although that was perfectly acceptable to Haku, it ignited a second, surprisingly-intense debate between Kiba and Sakura on the difference in qualifications between doctors and veterinarians!

While the two continued this new argument without him, Haku looked around forlornly at the crowds that had only gotten bigger since his final showdown with Eueki. All the civilians had been corralled to the other side of the street, leaving the green lawns bordering the forest around Senju Park to roaming teams of vigilant leaf-ninjas. Peering at all the faces, the teenager saw shinobi of practically every shape, size, description and age: a fat one dressed in green and cream, crunching away on potato chips; another one who was lean and wore his hair in a tall ponytail that looked like a black pineapple top; a kunoichi in a pink vest carrying a pair of wicked looking tiger-hook swords; a regal young man with a luxurious drapery of long, brown hair whose aspect reminded the former Demon's Apprentice of Kiba's Hyuuga teammate; lots of chunin, and lots and lots and lots of ANBU.

The sight of so many white, zodiac masks gave Haku an uneasy feeling and brought back vestiges of bad memories from his many months as a fugitive.

Frowning plaintively, Haku caught a glimpse of Rock Lee again and Ino, and that serious-looking man, Asuma amongst the crowd. But nowhere was there even a trace of the vivid orange outfit or flash of bright yellow hair he hoped to see.

What he _did_ see was a masked man no less familiar – a tall, silver-haired jonin in grey and blue fatigues strolling leisurely across the lawn towards them with his hands in his pockets.

"Kakashi-sensei," cried Sakura, who slumped with relief at his arrival, "thank goodness! Maybe you can talk some sense into Ha…um, ah --."

"Do you mean our guest from Wave Country, Constable Okame?" the masked ninja offered sanguinely.

"Um, yes," said Sakura as all the computations of who knew what when and who-was-who resolved in her mind. "Yes I do, and he refuses to go the hospital despite the fact that he's been poisoned! Is this some kind of 'guy' thing or what?"

Kakashi shrugged then gave Haku a languid, one-eyed glance. "Sakura's right, Hiroo," offered the jonin. "If you've been exposed to ninja poison then you should certainly go. Many recipes have a deadly enough effect by themselves which can be compounded when combined with others within the victim's body," he concluded sagely.

Haku returned an exasperated look that said plainly enough that the leaf-ninja had told him nothing more than what he already knew.

"There, you see," snapped Sakura with a wave of her arm. "He's just being stubborn."

"Hmm," Kakashi continued in a thoughtful air and seemed to realize even from the short history of their acquaintance that there was more to the normally reserved teenager's objections than pure obstinacy. "You know," the tall shinobi ventured and raised an inquiring eyebrow, "even though you're not a leaf-ninja you'll still get the best possible care. You won't be treated any differently."

"Master Kakashi," sighed Haku, "I don't mean to be difficult, but…" He trailed off, spared Kiba and his team and Sakura a worried look, not wanting to have to fill them in on the unsavory details, then took Kakashi aside.

Motioning for him to lean over, Haku whispered the nature of his reservations into the leaf-ninja's ear, hoping (and assuming, especially given the man's taste in manga) that he wouldn't need to expound too much to get Kakashi to understand.

"Oh," the jonin conceded, "ok, I can see how that might make you think twice."

Sakura sputtered, beside herself, her cheeks flushing pink. "What!? Kakashi-sensei, are you really taking HIS side now?"

Kakashi motioned to her that he was still working on it, put a reassuring hand on the young visitor's curved, sloped shoulder and leaned close. "You know you need to be examined, Haku," he offered quietly, "have your blood analyzed, filtered possibly, and given a series of specific antidotes and neutralizers. The poisons you were exposed to might have been designed to combine in your blood stream or accumulate in your organs. They could kill you days from now or stay in your system for years waiting for another agent to activate them."

The teenager shook his head, not at all happy with his alternatives.

"Listen," said Kakashi in confidence, "I promise you; I give you my word as a ninja that you'll…or, rather, I mean, that you WON'T be…" He broke off, slightly embarrassed as he tried to think of the least vulgar way to put it. "Well, you know, that no one will…"

Haku looked up at him. "That I'll leave Konoha with _everything_ I came with?" he clarified tolerantly while Sakura gave the two of them a puzzled look that bordered exasperation.

Beneath the tight blue fabric of his mask, Kakashi grinned. "Exactly."

* * *

**Kiba**

Kiba, still a little hot from his spirited argument with Sakura, was more than happy to let Kakashi-sensei take over the situation and backed off a few steps though he still kept a close, vigilant eye on what was going on.

"What do you think that was all about, Kiba?" an equally-puzzled Hinata asked curiously in a voice that was, as usual, painfully polite.

"Ya got me," the tattered genin replied grumpily while Akamaru trotted lazy circles around them. "Maybe it's some kind of mist-ninja code -- never let the enemy treat you; something like that."

"But after everything that happened," the girl ventured, "he can't think of US as enemies, can he?"

"Who knows?"

Hinata's gaze fell away the way it often had in her earlier days then returned. "Don't you think, Kiba, that you ought to go the hospital too?"

The boy looked up first at her, then at his arm then the back of his shoulder which was covered in cuts from Kaori's raptors along with some deeper and more serious ones left by Kaori herself. With all the excitement, he'd completely forgotten about them.

"Eh," he huffed indifferently, "this ain't so bad. My sister'll stitch me up when I get home." Kiba dropped his gaze toward his little ninja puppy who, though his white fur was still stained pink from Eueki's blinding powder, was in good spirits and seemed none the worse for wear. "I need to get her to check out Akamaru anyway."

The kunoichi nodded. "It sounds like guarding that mist-ninja turned out to be a really dangerous mission. I'm surprised the Hokage didn't send all of us."

"You said it," Kiba remarked emphatically then, noticing the lack of their third teammate's silent but inimitable presence, inquired: "Hey, where'd Shino go off to?"

The girl's chin fell slightly as she brought her hands together in front of her chest and absently twiddled her fingers. "Oh, one of the ANBU asked if he could help out searching the woods for any more infiltrators."

"Oh, ok," Kiba allowed, thinking how that made sense with his abilities. "How come they didn't ask you, Hinata? With your byakugan, you'd be perfect for the job."

The girl hesitated a little in her reply and seemed to shrink deeper into her roomy, light grey, hooded jacket. "I think my cousin is already helping."

"Oh," said Kiba, but the expression on Hinata's face and her disappointed tone was giving him the idea that he'd said something wrong again. Though he never meant to, he seemed to do that a lot. This time, like most times, he couldn't really put together what it was even when he replayed their conversation in his head.

The boy's wolfish eyes slid toward his constant companion, Akamaru, who only sat by, looking around at all the people and activity, panting happily with pink tongue lolling carelessly over dark grey lips and pointed ivory canines. This was a subject where even his loyal ninja-hound was no help.

"Maybe I should take a look at your wounds?" offered Hinata who saved him from further frustrating speculation by mercifully changing the subject. "I thought Sakura would, but she's going with Hiroo and Kakashi-sensei."

"Oh, well, sure. Ok."

Kiba flopped down on the lawn, peeled off his grey, mesh tee-shirt, held it at arm's length then gave out an unintelligible bark as he saw all the nasty tears, cuts, grass and blood stains.

"Awwwgh!" he grumbled disgustedly as Hinata knelt behind him, opened her first-aid kit then began to treat him, "would you look at that?" The genin wadded up what was left of his ruined shirt, tossed it aside in contempt then muttered: "What a crap-tacular way to spend the day. I don't even know WHERE my coat is…ow!"

Kiba flinched slightly, having forgotten just how bad standard-issue antiseptic stung…and stank! Yet, despite that, being close to his Hyuuga teammate even under these conditions was not entirely unpleasant. Just her presence in itself was soothing. She smelled nice, _really_ nice actually, her touch was gentle and the medicine she used refreshingly cold against his skin.

It suddenly struck him as how ODD it was to find himself alone with her. Although they were teammates and were together a lot, it was always in a group with Shino or Kurenai-sensei, Naruto or whoever else.

When not training or on missions, Hinata usually went right back to her clan's compound which always seemed to Kiba like a world away: a castle on a distant and lonely planet, surrounded by high walls, armed guards and crocodile-filled moats; and certainly not the kind of place you could just show up without a stated reason.

"Um," Hinata began, "so…what happened, Kiba? On your mission, I mean."

Kiba's eyes rose; he felt remiss at having forgotten to tell her the rest of it.

After he'd found Okame laid flat-out unconscious on the grass outside the woods surrounding Senju Park, the young leaf-ninja had kind of freaked-out and started shouting at the top of his lungs until his teammates and Sakura, drawn by the explosion, came to his aid. Once there, Kiba only had time to blurt a couple of quick, necessary sentences at them that explained just how very important it was that the mist-ninja NOT DIE.

"Wow," the girl piped when he'd finished, "a real ninja of the Hidden Mist. Hiroo doesn't seem at all like what I've heard about them."

"Mmm-hmm, THAT'S for sure," the young ninja agreed, then goggled at how much of an understatement the kunoichi's comment really was. "That guy's…just…_different_. You should have seen him chuck those senbon around; it was like a circus trick or something. And get this – he can do jutsu one-handed. And there's something else too, Hinata. I think that sh-t, uh, stuff he was doing with the wind was a kekkei-genkai."

His teammate startled. "Could that really be true?"

"That's what that poison-ninja, Eueki, said," Kiba pondered aloud. "I don't know. I thought the Land of Water had --," the boy stopped himself. 'Killed everyone who had a bloodline,' that was what he was going to say but caught it in time this time not wanting to upset Hinata even though he really didn't think it would only that it might because of HER bloodline.

"Anyway," he began anew, though slightly off-rhythm, "Okame must be somebody special for the Hokage to assign him protection. Plus, she gave him one of her jade rings, the kind she only lends out to visiting big-shots while they're in town."

Hinata gasped, gripped Kiba's shoulder hard then ventured excitedly: "Do you think Lady Tsunade's working on an alliance between our villages? Kiba! That would be…incredible! I know you didn't have much time to talk with each other, but did he _say_ anything?" The black-haired kunoichi's expression came alive as her delicate brow knitted in furious thought, riveting Kiba's attention. "Lady Tsunade told you that he's a constable from the Mist's Wave Country garrison but, I mean, there's _never_ been a mist-ninja in Konoha before. Do you think it's possible that Hiroo Okame is really an ambassador, a diplomat?"

Kiba's face went blank with amazement. Though the genin rarely thought about things at that scale, the idea of a strategic alliance between Leaf, Sand and Mist was enough to make his head spin. Even HE realized it would be the kind of major geo-political shift that would make Konoha's enemies crap their pants.

"That would explain why Sound wanted him dead so bad," said Kiba. The boy mulled the notion over for a long moment but in the end was forced to dismiss it. "No, Hinata," he moped certainly then frowned; his face falling toward his chest. "That's not it. It can't be."

"But why not? You said yourself that --."

_"It's just not, ok?!"_ Kiba blurted, cutting her off which he always made an effort not to do…_when_ he was thinking about it. "I…," the genin stuttered regretfully, feeling quite ashamed when he saw the effect of his harsh tone in the girl's milky eyes.

His mother and sister were without exception, Kiba had only recently come to realize, completely _unlike_ any normal sort of female (if there was such a thing) he'd ever met. _Their_ feelings were like steel and so were their fists. They were as quick to trade punches or insults as any guy, and if a thought occurred to them, **BANG**, out it came. Any consequence for anything you did or said that rubbed them the wrong way was made known in no uncertain terms THAT INSTANT and, if the offence was minor, forgotten the next and never made mention of again.

It dawned on Kiba that not all women operated by those principles and that, in plain fact, most were completely the opposite!

So no, he understood, if he cared about her he couldn't just BARK at Hinata like he did Shino (who couldn't care less) or Naruto (who would bark back). SHE was sensitive in many ways and so it mattered not only what he said, but how he said it.

"I know the guy's not that big a deal," Kiba continued softly, reluctantly in a voice laden with unspoken apologies, "because Tsunade sent ME to guard him. If he really was an ambassador or something, somebody _that_ important, I'd be the last ninja she'd send."

"Kiba!" gasped Hinata, who moved around in front of him, "that's not true. You're a fine shinobi. I'm…I'm surprised _you'd _ever say something like that; it's so unlike you. You're always so, so confident."

The boy shook his head. "I always had reason to be….or thought I had reason to be."

"But you are!"

Kiba forced a chuckle but shook his head. "Thanks, Hinata. I know you mean it. But my _stats_ say just the opposite. As part of Team Eight I do ok, but that's just 'cause I got you and Shino to pick up my slack."

The girl's pale eyes melted with sympathy. "Not all missions can be successful," she said and gestured into the forest. "Just like with this one you never know what you'll be up against or what difficulties will come up. Kiba, you're a big part of our team's success. I can't count the number of times where the only reason Shino and I survived was because we followed _your_ lead."

Kiba gave her a questioning, aggravated look which he couldn't help. The very, very last thing on this earth he wanted right now, _especially_ from her, was a pep talk or for her to feel sorry for him.

"You must be thinking about Shino," he snorted quietly. "HE'S always the one with the plan; the one who stops to think, the one who figures things out."

"No, Kiba, I am thinking about you. Shino is incredibly smart and usually knows just what to do when he has time to think, but _you_ have better instincts. You always know when to run," (Kiba grimaced at that), "and when to stand and fight and you do it without hesitating!"

Kiba's brow furrowed uncertainly as he considered this. "I -- I don't remember..."

"No," Hinata confirmed with surprising passion, took him by the arms and (he swore) almost _shook_ him, "you don't because it's so natural for you. It's like breathing to you so you don't ever think about it and you don't remember it as anything special…but I do. Kiba, you've saved our lives dozens of times! And any success we've achieved is in so many ways because of you!"

The leaf-ninja stared in bewilderment into the girl's fair-featured face then glanced away.

_Is it possible?_ Kiba tried to think back to their missions but they always seemed to hinge on either Shino's bugs or Hinata's eyes, with his own contributions seeming so…so minor.

Without his teammates, he knew, his track record was even worse. The Sound Four's Sakon and Ukon had beaten him. Orochimaru's spy, Kabuto had beaten him with ridiculous ease. During the chunin exams, even NARUTO had beaten him!

"Kiba," said Hinata who rested her hand tenderly, reassuringly along the side of his face and stilled his troubled thoughts. "If I was sent on a mission and asked to pick just one partner; if I knew great strength would be required, I would pick Chouji."

The boy's lips twisted into a sardonic scowl as he looked away, eyes rolling, but Hinata persisted: "If I knew that strategy would be required, I'd pick Shikamaru. For stealth -- Shino. For creativity and perseverance, I'd pick, um, I'd pick Naruto."

The genin grit his teeth a little at the halting way she said that name. Kiba was _starting_ to think Hinata had a thing for the wacky blond, but his Hyuuga teammate took his chin with a butterfly's touch and pulled it back gently so that he faced her.

"But Kiba," she concluded, "if I didn't have any idea at all of what to expect, I'd pick **you**."

Kiba looked back at Hinata as she smiled at him then reaffirmed unabashedly in her cheerful, songbird's voice: "I'd pick you without a doubt!"

The genin blinked then bit his lip, overwhelmed by the feelings her words had conjured – grateful, restored, uplifted but at the same time, somehow, infinitely humble. Despite everything that could be held against him, and there was kind of a lot, if he could still be held so highly in his teammate's eyes, _those_ eyes, then –.

"Hinata," said Kiba in an awed whisper then fell quiet, not knowing what to say.

Ever since the powers that be put them on the same team, he'd accepted their night-and-day differences without much thought. He was the assertive, abrasive one, and she the opposite: shy, gentle and timid. He had his little place in Konoha's social structure while she was the Hyuuga heir and future matriarch of a great and ancient clan the inner-workings of which were nearly incomprehensible.

The Hyuuga in general were a stiff bunch, stuck-up, stand-offish and full of themselves – like Neji used to be before he finally pooped out whatever had been clogging up his pipes all those years.

But Hinata wasn't like her clan though she had all their strengths, their skills and fortitude. She was so much more than that: sweet, kind, nice to be around, amazing in so many ways and --.

_Beautiful,_ it struck Kiba suddenly as if for the very first time.

Kiba turned toward her; his lupine eyes shimmering with emotion, heart racing with urgent anxiety as he felt compelled in a way he never had before. He had to _say_ something, _do_ something. It _had_ to be something meaningful but capricious, impulsive but appropriate, powerful but affectionate, memorable and utterly…and completely…perfect.

"Hinata," he began tentatively and swallowed, fighting hard to muster the will to see this through…then stopped short as a shadow fell across them.

Supremely vexed, Kiba glared up at the unwelcome interruption and his eyes settled like an archer's aim on the towering ninja's impassive, white-masked face. Before the genin could even open his mouth to speak, the ANBU cocked his thumb and informed him, "Hokage's waiting for you."

Kiba's face drained of expression as those five simple words tore him back through time and space to Lady Tsunade's office just a few hours ago, to the exact moment when she'd said: '_If anything, ANY-THING, happens to him, Mr. Inuzuka, then you'll be pushing a broom.'_

The boy's eyes glazed as he thought about what it would mean to be stripped of his already low but hard-earned rank of genin; for the Hokage to reach out with the ultimate expression of righteous contempt and tear the hitai-ate from his forehead – the beginning of a life burdened with such shame that not even time would ever erase it, a lowly existence that Hinata, this girl who meant so much to him, would surely pity him for…but never, ever love.

"What's wrong, Kiba?" asked Hinata worriedly at the drastic, palpable change that had come over her teammate so suddenly.

"Huh?" Kiba mumbled weakly then announced with a shaky, obviously affected carelessness: "nothing, nope, everything's just…everything's just great. I, uh, just gotta talk to Tsunade a minute, ok? I'll see you later, Hinata!"

The young ninja rose, waved a hasty, awkward goodbye then rushed off with Akamaru racing to catch up and leaving the kunoichi to stare after Kiba with a wondering look upon her face.

* * *

The Hokage's Tower was a madhouse a-swarm with leaf-shinobi rushing in then rushing out; whole teams coming and going.

With a lump of anguish settling unpleasantly in the pit of his stomach as he contemplated a future consisting of more _janitorial_ types of duty, Kiba Inuzuka pushed his way as gently but firmly as he could past any number of people who outranked him.

No sooner had he'd squeezed his way into her office then the Fifth Hokage, who picked him out easily through the crushing crowd, shot him a frustrated look, leonine in its intensity, leaned forward in her chair and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"There you are, Kiba, _finally_," she blurted tersely, ignoring twelve other peoples' urgent demands for her attention then, with two words, had the entire room cleared.

The young ninja watched in mounting uneasiness as the crowd of jonin, ANBU, clan leaders and civilian authorities filed out in cowed submission until even Shizune and her little piglet, Tonton, had gone, leaving just him with Akamaru hiding behind his calf, Lady Tsunade sitting there at her desk, and silence.

Thick.

Oppressive.

Silence.

A silence that let you hear your own nervous heart beat.

A silence, a single moment of which lingered like eternity.

A silence in which one might realize that appearing before one's ninja lord with no shirt on, cut, scraped and scratched, with hair in a tangled mess like some feral, one-eyed alley-cat, stinking of sweat, dried blood and antiseptic, and skin a collage of stains, scars, bruises and fresh bandages pushed even the most broadly-inclusive definition of the word 'propriety' well past its limits.

Kiba stood frozen and straight as a statue, his jaw tense, hands moist and shaking, and wondered what it said about him that he hadn't even thought to beg, borrow or steal a clean shirt to wear, or brush his hair into a semblance of order.

_Most people would have thought about that, right?_

The Hokage stared straight at him with a face like stone, cold as a mortician's, learned back then crossed her arms. Kiba had never seen her more intimidating or felt emanations more menacing.

"Ok," Tsunade began in a tone, the utterance of which stopped the world from spinning on its axis; her amber eyes bored mineshaft tunnels into his soul. "I'm sure the ANBU will have a nice, thick report on my desk sometime tomorrow about everything that happened in the last few hours, but I can't wait that long and I won't. Not when I got a pile of bodies, a visiting mist-ninja YOU were supposed to look after who-knows-where, and a giant explosion going off over the village. So, give me the short and sweet and make it quick."

Breath seeped from the young ninja -- a deflating balloon's final gasp then, like a doomed man giving his confession, Kiba related all that had happened.

"Okame got Eueki. I don't know what happened to Kaori," the genin summed-up desolately at the end. "But Okame's ok, I just saw him with Sakura and Kakashi-sensei. They took him to the hospital."

Having listened with barely-suppressed impatience the entire time without so much as a sound, the imposing, sandy-haired woman nodded then expressed a calm, tired sigh of acceptance.

"Very good, Kiba," she said at last. "Go get yourself and Akamaru checked out. Kakashi Hatake will debrief you more thoroughly within the hour."

With that Tsunade rose, paced slowly to her office's broad window that overlooked the Hidden Leaf Village, rested her hand against the glass and stared out, becoming almost a silhouette against the bright sky, high walls and tree-blanketed hilltops beyond lit by the late-afternoon sun.

It took a few moments for Kiba to work up the nerve to speak. "That's…that's it?"

"Unless you got something else," said the jade-robed figure without turning.

"I kind of thought," the boy began in tentative earnest, then looked up shyly, "I kind of thought you'd be mad or something."

Tsunade's head lifted. "Just because I'm not throwing furniture around doesn't mean I'm not mad," she informed him. "I have to wonder how, not just a cell, but damn near an entire _regiment _of sound-ninja infiltrators can just pop up in this village out of the clear blue. The preliminary reports say they've been here ever since the invasion, all these months, yet _nobody_ knew about them." The woman cocked her head and Kiba noticed her hands ball tensely into fists. "I take that back," she continued, "SOMEbody knew about them…just not me."

The Hokage brooded awhile before she straightened then turned back to him. "Oh," she said as it dawned on her, "you meant mad at YOU. No," Lady Tsunade illuminated, "I think you probably handled things as well as anyone could have. You and Okame are alive; a whole bunch of sound-ninjas are dead. And if Kaori's still alive, and hopefully captured by now, then it's a hat-trick.

"Personally," Tsunade added with a carefree gesture, "I could have done without the earth-shattering explosion but, all-in-all, I think it's a good sign that you thought to call for help when you needed it rather than try to manage a deteriorating situation by yourself."

"Huh," Kiba rumbled hollowly. "'Calling for help,'" he then reiterated in lugubrious introspection, dwelling on the phrase, "not exactly the stuff ninja legends are made of."

The woman leaned casually against the top of her desk then rewarded him with a smile. "No," she agreed with laughter in her voice but raised her forefinger insightfully, "but you DO have to live long enough to become one. Frankly, there are all sorts of marvelous attributes a decently-capable ninja should have. Good sense is one of them, even if no one would ever make a movie about it."

Kiba's brow lifted hopefully. "But I'm…I'm still a ninja, right?"

Lady Tsunade looked back at the woefully unkempt boy blankly, having not the slightest idea what he was talking about. "Of course," she offered, but already the ninja lord was thinking about the next ninety-nine matters she had to attend to. "Why wouldn't you be?"

* * *


	8. Mission to Konohagakure Part 8

_Hi, and welcome back!!! --Jono'_

* * *

**Haku**

_Sakura was right,_ moped the sleepy teenager as he drowsed in the crisp, clean but unfamiliar comforts of his hospital bed_. I WAS just being paranoid._

Pale Konoha moonlight streamed in through the half-open blinds, slanting luminously across the floor and partially up the wall of the otherwise dark room in an array of slender, pale parallelograms.

Haku had spent the entire rest of the day and well into the evening having blood drawn, taking shots and pills, being subjected to various treatments and jutsus, and generally having his entire body inspected and tested in what he considered overall to be a fairly intrusive and ungentle way by FAR too many people.

_I should have gone to Kiba's house. His sister Hana undoubtedly knows enough to treat a human being and probably with a little more sensitivity,_ the patient couldn't help but grumble. Despite his misgivings though, Haku still had to admit that his fears about being exploited as the Uchihas had been now seemed wildly off-base.

_And who are you kidding?_ said the young ninja to himself as he sighed and snuggled closer into his blanket. _Just because someone inside the Hidden Leaf Village sought to use the Uchiha clan's stolen eggs and semen as the basis for a eugenics program doesn't mean at all that they'd be interested in yours. I mean, an army of sharingan warriors, an army of Kakashis or older Sasukes – THAT would be truly frightening. But an army of Hakus?_

The teenager giggled at the idea, turned onto his back and threw a long, alabaster arm over his eyes.

_Oooh! So SCARY!_ the former Demon's Apprentice considered mirthfully as the picture took hold in his mind. _Help! Help! A legion of schoolgirls is attacking the city!_

Somewhere in his thoughts brewed the idea that sure, his own kekkei-genkai which allowed him control over water and air was impressive in its own little way. Some were even frightened of it, but on the whole it wasn't anything nearly as daunting as the fabled and mysterious *_**sharingan***_.

Plus Haku knew very well that the way he looked evoked a wide variety of reactions and emotions in people, but TERROR had thus far never been one of them (which was just as well as far as he was concerned).

_And anyway,_ the ninja went on, fingers playing absently with the jade necklace the Hokage had lent him, _even if the Uchihas HAD their genetic materials taken from them here in the hospital, it had to have been a much more sophisticated operation than just having some…some deviant sneak into their room at night!_

_Let's hope so,_ he thought finally and made a mental note to apologize to Sakura for his impoliteness.

A corner of his lips upturned. He felt sure that if the girl had forgiven him for everything else, she'll definitely forgive him for this.

_Maybe I can blame it on the poison._

The black-haired teenager shifted back to laying his side, curled closer, closed his eyes then drew a deep and relaxing breath. It was late, he was tired and he knew he should be getting some sleep before taking off for Wave Country in the morning.

Just as he felt himself approach the threshold of unconsciousness, the door-lever to his room rattled slightly, breaking the stillness.

Haku noticed, but determined to ignore it.

It rattled again and this time the latch released.

The ninja's eyes flicked open then stared hard at the door – a rectangle of solid, light-stained wood with a small, translucent panel at head level. It was a 'barn style' door that hung from an overhead track by a pair of metal wheels clad with rubber to make them roll quietly.

A series of soft taps issued against the silence then a crack of light from the hallway beyond glowed softly at the door's edge as it very slowly started to open.

Haku's once-sleepy grey eyes went wide as he gaped in utter mortification. Having convinced himself that any crude and ham-handed (so to speak) violation of his body here was pure paranoid fantasy, the young ninja now found himself shocked to the core of his being that such a thing not only COULD happen but might be ABOUT to happen right now!

The teenager shook his head. _Oh HELL no!_ he thought, borrowing a phrase his new, adoptive family liked to use on occasion.

In a flash, the Demon's Apprentice sprang to his feet and stood ready, fully upright in his hospital bed, dressed only in an unflatteringly baggy t-shirt and boxer shorts.

Fighting back anger, the ninja brushed aside ribbons of long, black hair from his face, brought his arms up with elbows pointing straight out from his sides and palms facing down as he drew a quick breath. Circling his hands wide, he inhaled deeply to charge his chakra, brought his hands back up in front of his chest then pressed them down on the exhale. The blanket flew back against the wall and concentric ripples pulsed through the bed-sheet at Haku's feet.

Though Kirigakure's 'Cannon-Fist' jutsu wasn't really the young shinobi's style, it WAS the very first technique Zabuza Momochi had ever taught him. Haku cocked his fist; whoever was about to come through this door was going to get a great big face-full of it!

But the door stopped after only a few inches and a small, dark shape appeared in the narrow opening. Haku paused then as a dog walked in…and it was not Akamaru.

This nocturnal visitor, if anything, was even smaller than Kiba's ninja-puppy and had tan fur but with a much darker terra-cotta colored patch around its flat, wide snout and coal-colored button nose. Still more puzzling was that it wore a little uniform of sorts -- a midnight blue vest and a leaf-ninja's hitai-ate.

"Oh," it said in a low, dead-pan voice; looking up with brown, languorous eyes. "Hey. I didn't think you'd still be up."

The dog turned around then shouldered the door shut. "I'm Pakkun," he continued then sat on his hinds. "Kakashi sent me to make sure nobody bothered you."

Haku blinked, blinked again then dropped his arms and flopped limply into the bed.

"What? You never saw a talking dog before?" Pakkun needled him, sounding slightly affronted.

"I was expecting someone else," Haku explained after a moment's pause then answered, "And I've seen _you _before, but I didn't know you could talk."

"Huh?" said the dog who gave the young ninja a curious look then sniffed the air. His expression widened. "Oh, so it's you – the kid from the bridge. Small world."

"Yes," Zabuza's former apprentice had to admit. "Yes it is."

Pakkun looked at him askance then remonstrated, "Hey, you're not going to stick me with any more senbon are you? 'Cause it hurt!"

Haku smiled sadly at his guest then shook his head. "I only did that because you and the rest of your pack of ninken attacked my master." His large, grey eyes rose. "But," continued the ninja in an offhand, genial way and pinched his undershirt's light, white cloth, "as you can see, they've disarmed me. I'm completely defenseless."

The pug raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh," Pakkun grunted dubiously. "Well, look, I've got really sharp senses of hearing and smell so if anyone comes in here who wants to mess with you then I'll give 'em SUCH a bite. And I'll bark too which'll wake you up. Then you can do to them what you were going to do to me. Fair enough?"

Haku nodded. "Fair enough," he confirmed.

The ninja watched his visitor rise, sniff his way around the room then curl up on the floor beside his bed and close his eyes.

"Goodnight, Pakkun," the ninja offered as he collected his blanket and rested his head back on his pillow.

"Goodnight, uh --."

"Haku."

"Right, Haku."

* * *

The visiting ninja awoke the next morning to the glow of cheerful sunshine in his window and the faint sounds of activity starting to stir in the corridor outside his room.

Haku yawned and gazed at the ceiling for a moment. Overall, he felt quite relaxed and eager to begin the day. If someone HAD taken 'liberties' with him during the night, he certainly couldn't tell.

Looking then over the edge of his bed, he found Pakkun still laying there in the same position he'd taken the previous night. The ninja thought him still asleep until the little dog raised an ear then pried one eye open as if to verify that it was indeed morning before fully committing himself to consciousness.

Drowsily, Pakkun pushed himself to his paws with melodramatic labor, shook a hind leg a few times to work out the kinks, smacked his lips then went to the door.

"Thank you, Pakkun," offered Haku as he sat up, but the pug only grunted something unintelligible yet generally agreeable back.

A soft knock came at the door and Sakura entered, carrying a covered tray. "Good morning, Ha--," the pink-haired girl began then stopped in surprise at seeing Pakkun.

The dog grunted the same greeting at her then departed with the kunoichi watching him go, a puzzled look on her face.

"O…kay," she said then slid the door shut before setting Haku's breakfast down beside his bed on a side-table.

"It's your sensei looking out for me," the visiting ninja explained. "Thank you for bringing me breakfast, Sakura. You didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to," she offered brightly. "My schedule's packed today and I wanted to see you again and say goodbye."

The visiting ninja nodded his appreciation then offered guiltily: "I'm sorry for yesterday. I guess I got carried away."

"It's ok," the girl replied gently then sat on his bed. "This hasn't exactly been a relaxing vacation for you, coming here and getting attacked and all. Besides, I'd be freaking out if I was sent to the Hidden MIST Village by myself."

Haku grinned but shook his head. "That's hardly an apt comparison," he observed. "Konohagakure may have its inherent problems but compared to _Kirigakure_, it's Shangri-La. In any case, I think you'd come through just fine."

"I'm just glad you're ok," Sakura said then looked at him with a fondness in her emerald eyes that touched him. "I've already seen you die once, you know; that should be enough."

Haku gazed back at her, speechless for a moment, then rubbed the back of his neck. "I have to agree."

Sakura grinned, eyes crinkling, then looked toward the clock and her expression turned urgent. "I gotta get going!" the girl gasped then shot to her feet. "But it's great to see you again and to know that you found yourself a good place to call home."

Smiling cleverly, she stooped over, gave him a hug then kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Be careful, Haku," the kunoichi offered as earnest, parting advice, before she turned to go.

Blushing slightly, the teenager's face lit with a surprised, awkward smile. "You too, Sakura," he managed to say before she'd gone.

* * *

Haku had already finishing eating when again someone rapped on his door and Kakashi wandered in. His visit was not at all unexpected.

"Well, good morning, Haku," the rangy, white-haired jonin offered in his now-familiar easy-going voice then leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. "You're looking a little thin and pale," he remarked, "are they treating you well?"

The young ninja stared for a moment before he realized that the masked man was _joking_. His thin lips widened into a wry grin. As senseis went, it was hard to get over the striking differences in personality between Kakashi Hatake and his own master, Zabuza. Though, he supposed, having three students as wildly different as Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto, a generally tolerant attitude and a sense of humor probably went a long way.

"I don't think I can complain since that's the way I was before I came in," Haku replied glibly then added: "Thanks for sending Pakkun to watch over me."

"He's not very fearsome as guard dogs go, but I assure you he's well qualified."

"I have no doubt."

"As well as checking in on you," Kakashi continued in a more serious though somewhat apologetic air as he pulled up a chair and sat down in it backwards with his arms draped over the backrest, "I'm also supposed to debrief you about yesterday. I figured you'd rather it was me than someone you didn't know."

Haku nodded. "I understand, and yes, I don't think I could stand staring into an ANBU mask for very long."

After going through a few formalities required for the report, the young ninja told Kakashi in exhaustive detail about his encounter with Otogakure's assassins. Though Haku thought twice about passing on Eueki's assertions about having had help from inside Konoha, he did so anyway. Kakashi's reaction, subdued as it was, was enough to let him know that there was reason enough to believe it could be true.

"He might have just been trying to plant the seeds of distrust," the masked ninja allowed, having read the question in the constable's face once he'd finished, "but then again, it's possible."

Haku nodded intelligently, sensing both the history and discomfort that surrounded this topic. "What about Kaori?" he asked, declining to pursue it, as the subject of her fate occurred to him. "Is there any word on what became of her?"

"She was captured," Kakashi reported absently. "She's here in the hospital right now in the isolation ward in a quarantine cell…still strapped into a restraint chair, I think."

Haku gave him a curious look.

"She's not taking to captivity very well," the ninja illuminated, shifted slightly then waved his hand. "But I wouldn't worry about her. A delegation from the Hidden Sand Village is coming to collect her. She'll be home in a few days."

"So there really is a treaty between your two villages," Haku confirmed, brow narrowing. "That's what I remembered hearing back in Wave Country, but she seemed a little 'confused' on the subject."

Kakashi nodded. "Evidently, she has a lot invested, emotionally I mean, in the idea of Konohagakure being her enemy. I'm sure that was what motivated her through many years of training."

The young ninja looked toward the window. "Still, Kaori lived here for a few months," he said with a frown then turned back toward his visitor. "How could she not know that the war between Sand and Leaf is over?"

"I don't know for sure," said the tall, masked man with a shrug. "Getting her side of the story has been…a little problematic so far. Undoubtedly Eueki gave her a thorough and convincing alternative explanation for what she might have seen and heard."

Haku shook his head in disbelief. "But how, I mean, how could she _possibly _believe it? She's a ninja after all, highly-intelligent and trained in the strategies of deception."

"Because she wants to, I would guess." Kakashi canted his head in thought then continued smoothly, "Because she's predisposed to. She could either accept that her fellow ninjas had been routed by her sworn enemies and that her mighty and infallible Kazekage had in fact been murdered quite awhile ago by some maniac who'd then taken his place and manipulated the whole Hidden Sand Village into doing his bidding, OR, she could accept a simpler, sweeter-sounding lie that keeps what she wishes to believe intact."

The young ninja's expression wriggled. "It _seems_ to make sense when you put it that way," he offered half-heartedly, unconvinced.

"There are a lot people in this world who cleave to ideology or what's more comfortable even when confronted with contrary evidence or when the reality of their own experience is at odds with it." Kakashi raised a pale eyebrow. "Haven't you noticed?"

Haku frowned but nodded, not wishing to continue the argument unduly.

Through the snug, blue fabric of his mask, the jonin smiled. "Think of it as the crucial difference between ignorance and faith," he offered instructively. "But if you're REALLY interested, maybe you could drop by Kaori's cell, untie her restraints and talk about it. Then you could find out for yourself," the leaf-shinobi suggested with an understated emphatic playfulness in his tone that was borderline smug.

Haku's expression constricted the more he thought about it. "Maybe not," he declined. "If it is as you say, I doubt my powers of persuasion would be enough to stop her from attempting to kill me again. But I'm glad she's alright, just the same." His eyes rose. "Oh, I almost forgot," the teenager began then lifted out the necklace Lady Tsunade had lent him – a small, jade ring carved with characters looped around a leather string. "It's probably time for me to give this back."

Kakashi held up his hand. "Go ahead and keep it. It's a gift."

The young ninja looked up at him. "What, really?"

"I've already talked to Lady Tsunade. She sends her apologies by the way. Generally speaking, we'd rather not let our guests get brutally attacked. Sorry about that."

"It's alright," Haku answered graciously then, with a casual, dismissive gesture, added: "I should be used to it by now."

Kakashi nodded, a curt but amiable farewell, squeezed Haku's shoulder then rose and walked to the door. But just as his hand reached the lever, he stopped.

Haku thought at first that the jonin had merely paused to remember what was next on his schedule for the day. Only after several seconds dragged past did he look at the uniformed figure with concern, tilt his head and inquire hesitantly: "Master Kakashi?"

The silver-haired man's arm dropped to his side. "I'm sure you had your own reasons for coming here Haku, beyond Magistrate Hirai's orders," his voice issued in slow, thoughtful cadence, "maybe the greatest or least of which was returning those canisters."

The young constable's chin dipped. He'd always imagined that his thoughts were his own, but he supposed that it wouldn't take much in the way of simple role-reversal for Kakashi to fathom what they were.

"After what you went through at our hands, at my hands," the leaf-ninja continued, "it couldn't have been an easy decision. But whatever the reasons, I'm glad you came. I didn't fully realize how much I regretted killing you until I saw you again, here, and alive."

Kakashi's heartfelt words brought an almost supranatural silence to the air. Haku's chest tightened at the events the man alluded to, the trauma, the lives lost, having been thrown into collision by destiny or fate – with some unaffected by their meeting (or so he'd always thought), others crippled and sent spinning off into the cosmic unknown, while others were destroyed utterly.

"I don't know if you'll fully understand this," Kakashi ventured, "but, with the many regrets I have, having one less means a great deal to me. Thank you, Haku." The man turned from the door long enough to bow.

Haku, not knowing what to say, only nodded his reply then watched him go.

* * *

Having had his uniform and weapons returned to him before his discharge, Haku left the hospital and stepped out again onto the Hidden Leaf Village's bright streets. A sense of warm relief washed over him, being free now from his well-intentioned quasi-confinement, along with what he considered to be a full reconciliation with both Sakura and Kakashi and yes, for that matter, Pakkun too.

"Hrar-rarf!" a happy bark greeted him.

The teenager's brow rose in mild surprise then he looked down as a familiar ninja-hound ran up, raced around him a few times then settled down and sat close to his feet with tail wagging furiously.

The sight of the energetic, white-furred puppy immediately brought a smile to the young ninja's face. "Good morning, Akamaru," he greeted cheerily as he knelt, patted the dog then scratched behind his grey ears. "Have you come to see me off?"

"It's not just him," answered Kiba, walking up with his two teammates in tow.

Shino and the Hyuuga girl looked much as they had yesterday, while Kiba had evidently recovered his grey, hooded jacket cuffed with black fur.

"Oh!" answered Haku who rose to meet them, "Mr. Inuzuka."

The young genin shot him a sour look at the unnecessary formality. "It's Kiba," he clarified curtly then went on: "Anyway, yesterday got a little crazy and I guess we didn't have time for a _real_ introduction. I'm Kiba Inuzuka," he gusted then turned to his companions, "these are my friends and the greatest teammates in the whole world, Hinata Hyuuga and Shino Aburame."

"Hiroo Okame," said Haku in his lilting, contralto voice as they exchanged bows. "I'm honored, and glad you stopped by so I could thank you all, especially you, Kiba. I'm not at all sure I would have survived yesterday if not for you."

"Ah, forget it," said the leaf-ninja with an easy grin, brushing aside the visiting constable's commendation. "Listen, I gotta admit I thought you were a little weird at first, but," Kiba frowned thoughtfully then opened his arms, "looking at how everything turned out all right in the end and that it was as much because of you as me, well…you're ok in my book."

"Oh," Haku started, taken aback a little by Kiba's unexpected welcome and gregarious, wide, white and pointy-canined smile. "Uh, thanks."

"So I was thinking," the boy went on with barely a pause, "since you're our very favorite mist-ninja, numero-uno, why don't you let us show you around a little then grab a bite to eat?"

"Uh, I really should be heading home. I'm expected."

"Aw, come on," Kiba cajoled, obviously knowing he'd get his way in the end, "how many times do you think you're gonna be in the Hidden Leaf Village?"

The slender visitor looked into his host's insistent, wolfish eyes and tattooed face. Like Naruto, Kiba wore his feelings on his sleeve. "Ok," Haku couldn't help but concede.

"Ha!" Kiba barked, "that's great! Y'see," he bragged to his companions, "I told you he'd come along."

A whirlwind tour of Konoha followed that took Haku from the sinister-sounding 'Forest of Death' to the top of the Hokages' Monument. Along the way they must have stopped to talk (Kiba ninety-percent of the time) with literally dozens of people who were all intensely curious about the preceding day's fracas.

Haku was fascinated at how the story Kiba told them evolved with each telling, increasing in magnitude every time with more enemies with greater ambitions and more bizarre powers until the former Demon's Apprentice wondered what fight the leaf-genin was describing.

Annoyed at first at how far from an accurate account the ninja strayed, Haku eventually saw the genius of it. Nobody smiled as much or gaped in awe at the real story like they did at Kiba's versions. Gauging reactions, maybe without even realizing it, Kiba had a sense of what parts to breeze past and which to embellish more.

In nuances that impressed Haku with Kiba's surprising sensitivity, the boy glossed over any suggestion that their visitor from Wave Country possessed a kekkei-genkai. It was bad enough, thought Haku, that so many people here knew his true identity already without that detail being spread around. Although he'd accepted that living under an alias was part of the price he had to pay for his life in Wave Country, it was especially tough at times like this – to have to lie and to have others lie _for_ you.

Along the way, they ran into Rock Lee who was eager to find out how Hiroo's visit had gone and was shocked at first then distraught and near to tears second to hear that the young constable he'd met the day before last had been right in the middle of yesterday's fight while he himself had missed it.

They met up with two of the ninjas Haku had seen yesterday who turned out to be Lee's teammates. The girl with the fondness for weapons was named Tenten, while the aristocratic-looking young man with the long hair was called Neji and was Hinata's cousin. Both seemed nice enough, and Haku learned from them that they'd been the ones to capture Kaori.

Finally, at the restaurant where they ended up having lunch, they shared a big table with two more members of Kiba's class, Chouji Akimichi and Shikamaru Nara. Over a meal of various appetizers, barbeque beef and scallion pancakes, Kiba told them 'the saga' in its most outlandish, improbable yet highly-entertaining form. By that time, the genin's delivery, his inflections and dramatic gestures acted almost like a powerful gen-jutsu that made even the chubby and affable Chouji stop eating (no small feat) and stare in amazement or break out in fits of uproarious laughter.

The other boy, Shikamaru, a chunin, Haku couldn't help but notice, was harder to read. The leaf-ninja, with his black hair drawn back and up into a pineapple-top-like crest, seemed so detached that the constable took him to be a blithe spirit at first, world-weary perhaps, maybe even indolent at worst. Clearly used to Kiba's stories, his reactions were much more subdued than his friend's – a chuckle here, an appreciative nod there. But every so often Shikamaru would break from his careless attitude and his eyes riveted like a gem-cutter's, his mind seizing at some aspect of his classmate's prose, especially at the missing details – like why a lowly visiting constable would warrant the Hokage's personally assigning him a ninja escort; what was important enough to bring him all the way from Wave Country in the first place, and how exactly had Kiba and Hiroo escaped from Kaori's summoned flock of demonic birds?

Finally, Hinata, Shino, Kiba and Akamaru, walked Haku to the Hidden Leaf Village's southern gate. It seemed a shame to him to have to leave now that he was so much more familiar with the place and its people.

Kiba smiled proudly, and Haku was just starting to get the idea that, somehow, yesterday's fight had done him a world of good. Shino, still unreadable, walked with his hands in the pockets of his long, cloud-grey coat while Hinata kept giving Haku nervous, darting looks.

"Miss Hyuuga," the teenager began, feeling now that he knew her well enough to ask, "Hinata, is something the matter?"

The girl wrung her fingers and started to demur when Kiba answered for her: "She's been itchin' to ask you something all morning." The leaf-genin put his arm around the girl and steered her forward. "Go on, Hinata," he offered in support, "he's cool. It's not like he's gonna be mad or anything."

"I…I was just wondering," she began, fighting her way through a stalemate between shyness and curiosity, "if, maybe, you sent by the Mizukage, to form an alliance between our villages?"

Haku's gentle, grey eyes rose at the idea, and he felt bad that he'd have to disappoint her. "I'm sorry," he began softly, "but I really am just a constable from Wave Country. The only reason I came here was to return some stolen property."

"Ah," said the girl as her face fell, "I see."

The young ninja reached out to her. "For my part, I think it's nice that you see a world of such splendid possibilities," he tried to reassure. "Perhaps, if you continue, then maybe one day it will happen."

Hinata beamed and her pearlescent eyes looked up at him as they shared a smile. "I certainly hope so."

The four continued on toward the gate awash in the friendly banter of an imminent farewell; so natural and companionable that Haku felt for a moment as if HE were a part of Team 8.

"I have to say that you surprise me, Hiroo," offered Shino in a quietly-intense straightforward voice as they came into the towering gate's shadow. Haku's attention locked immediately, because this genin had thus far said so little! "I'd always understood that shinobi of the mist were especially violent, but apparently it's not so."

Haku looked at Shino and paled, hoping the remark was only an idle compliment, but then noted how enthusiastically Kiba and Hinata too agreed. Though the teenager hated to contradict them now, of all times, he really didn't have any choice.

"_You mustn't think that_," the visitor corrected them sternly then stopped dead in his tracks. "I hope you understand that among mist-ninja I am quite unique, and that any you encounter over the age of twenty-four will certainly try to kill you, immediately, with only very, very rare exceptions."

The three genin and even the normally rambunctious Akamaru looked back at their guest, surprised by his sudden vehemence and dire tone, then froze to listen.

"Under the ethos on which they were trained," Haku continued, "the act of killing in itself is considered virtuous. And though the curriculum of the Mist's Martial School is a bit less savage than it was years ago, even a recently graduated genin would look upon any rival ninja with distrust at best and outright loathing at worst."

The young ninja's eyes roamed over Team 8's now serious faces and his head sank sadly. Wetting his dry lips, he swallowed then muttered, "I'm sorry to have spoiled the collegial atmosphere but I would hate to think that I've inadvertently left you misinformed."

Kiba broke the long, awkward silence that followed. "We're not collegials," he announced with a reassuring smile then took Haku by the arm, "we're _friends_. And friends _should_ speak their mind."

Hinata smiled beatifically with hands clasped at her chest. "Kiba," she piped, gazing at her teammate in admiration. "What a wonderful thing to say!"

The boy looked back at her then at Shino whose left eyebrow rose almost imperceptibly.

_"What?!"_ cried Kiba in protest. "Hey, you all don't have to look so SHOCKED! I can be NICE!" The young leaf-ninja tried to continue the argument but was drowned out by the laughter that followed.

* * *

Walking out through the gates of the Hidden Leaf Village, Haku waved goodbye to Shino, Hinata, Kiba and Akamaru then set his sights on home, feeling bittersweet. Although his mission to return those canisters had been a success, and he'd made up with Sakura and Kakashi and made new friends along the way, not getting to see Naruto again made his time spent here seem almost like a failure.

The blond genin once said to him that they might have been friends. Undoubtedly, he'd meant it. But a lot of time had gone by since then and a lot of things had changed. Feelings were funny things, so important, so much a part of the human experience and yet, as the poets say: written in water. Especially love.

Hate was easy. Call someone a terrible name, strike them, or even just slight them in some minor way and almost all people will hate you. That was universal.

Love was more elusive. Even if you showered someone with attention, gave them gifts, gave of yourself, it was no guarantee.

The ninja's thoughts turned to the musings of one Juri Chono. _'Love is a f-f-f-cking FEELING!' _Haku remembered the young woman shouting into his face on that mist-veiled Wave Country bridge, _'an ILLUSION!'_ she had stridently argued. _'It's not REAL! Feelings change in an instant, for a thousand reasons or for no reason at all!'_

And though she was right in many respects, Haku was not about to take her argument as proof of love's worthlessness. A girl's love, Mari's love, had rescued him from hell or oblivion and given him a second chance, a home, had healed and filled his heart and opened his life to endless possibilities.

As for Naruto, the last time they'd met, Haku had stuck him with needles and forced him to suffer the apparent death of his friend, Sasuke, to the point that the strange, yellow-haired ninja had released whatever terrible power it was pent up within him. All of that in total might be a bit more than one could apologize for in a single letter even if, as Sakura had claimed, Naruto wasn't the type to carry a grudge.

Haku's weakness was still that he had a soft heart, one that didn't cotton to cruel realities.

Like: not everyone precious to you can stay.

And: not everyone you care about will care back.

But he knew it wasn't all bad, in fact, with all things considered, it was quite the opposite.

_You have a home and a love to return to,_ Haku remembered and nodded to himself, _a family of sorts, and people who care about you. And even if the Hidden Leaf Village is not the pinnacle of civilization you wanted it to be, Wave Country still COULD be._

A grin sprang over his face, lighting it like the dawn. _And even if it never is – it sure won't be from lack of trying._

* * *

**Tsunade**

Within a blurry, circular frame, Haku's thoughtful, winsome face slowly came into focus. The slender, feminine teenager turned and smiled – his grace and delicacy offset awkwardly by the mist-ninja fatigues he wore, then abruptly vanished in a burst of chakra-fueled speed.

Anko Mitarashi, her tan, open trench-coat fluttering softly in the breeze, dropped the high-powered binoculars and let them hang at her hip. Taking a step away from the high wall that encompassed Konoha's parapet, the lithe, fishnet-clad kunoichi blurted unhappily: "So you're telling me that that doll-faced string-bean is one of the Land of Water's most dangerous criminals?"

The Fifth Hokage, Lady Tsunade looked down the road in the direction their visitor had departed. "That would seem to be the case," the jade-robed woman answered then looked toward Kakashi.

The jonin crouched in the shade, elbows resting atop the shelf of his knees. "It's him," he stated. "There's no doubt about it."

Anko frowned and shook her head. "And…we're just letting him go…_why?_"

Kakashi spared her a one-eyed glance. "There's no point in detaining him, Anko…or worse."

"Except that he knows kind of an awful lot about us, don't you think: our relative strength, how bad we're still hurting from Sound and Sand's attack, how we respond to emergencies inside Konoha? How depressingly porous our internal security is?"

"Haku's not with Kirigakure no Sato," the copy-ninja replied in a level voice. "He never was. His coming here is proof enough of that. And if he was an opportunist, he could easily have made any deal he wanted to with any of the Hidden Villages in exchange for those canisters. But he chose to bring them to us."

"Uh-huh," asserted the tomboyish leaf-ninja with deep suspicion, "and that all seems just a little TOO neat and clean to me."

"Our labs did confirm that the seals were intact," Tsunade offered into evidence.

"May I point out that every day Kumo, Kiri, Ame or Iwa does NOT have an army of Petri-dish Itachis ready to tear the Hidden Leaf Village down is a day we need to THANK Haku," stated Kakashi with an edge of temper creeping into his voice.

"There's an idea," said Tsunade in a humorous tone to ease the tension. Kakashi had evidently taken to Haku more than she would have guessed, enough to be protective of him as if Zabuza's student was one of his own. "That would certainly give the Akatsuki something else to gnash their teeth over."

"Yeah, yeah, rah-rah," the younger woman argued. "But why take the risk? We would have lost _nothing_ if we'd have grabbed him."

"That's true," the Hokage replied, "at least to an extent."

Anko stared at her. "What, you admit it?!" she fired off in tone far too forward to address her Hokage with. "Sorry," she mollified, "it's just that --."

"I'll admit we wouldn't have lost anything _tangible_ if we'd have detained Haku," Lady Tsunade began. "However, I think from what Kakashi's told us that we're all better off with him free." As Anko's eyes, the color of slate, narrowed uncertainly, the Hokage added: "We have too few friends in this world, and none with any inside knowledge of Kirigakure. Even Wave County is becoming quite the hive of activity. There's a lot going on there lately and now we have at least one person we know we could talk to within the Mist's garrison." The woman sniffed then brushed a rope of her long, sandy hair from the side of her face. "Not to mention that it's just plain bad manners to kill or kidnap a guest. Unlike some, I prefer that there be more than just a nominal difference between us and our enemies."

The Fifth Hokage walked to the edge of the wall, leaned her hands on the parapet then looked down the forest-shrouded road. "Plus," she went on, "and this may sound awfully touchy-feely, I find I have a higher regard for young people than I used to." The buxom woman smiled reluctantly then warned Anko and Kakashi, "Don't EVER tell anyone, but I've started to realize that you never know who they'll turn out to be. Certainly no one would have picked ME to be a future Hokage at the tender age of fifteen, or that Jiraiya would have the kind of power and influence he has."

About Orochimaru, it went unsaid but clearly understood.

"So when I look at Haku – I see a boy who lasted eight years as Zabuza Momochi's disciple student, managed to avoid the Mist's hunter-ninja teams on his own, had no interest at all in the power and wealth he could have had by selling the stolen seed of the Uchiha to the highest bidder, had the sensibilities to pick his spot for counter-attacking his assassins in a remote corner of Senju Park, someplace out of the way so that no innocent bystanders would get hurt, and was skilled enough to pull it off (WITH a little help from Kiba). Not to mention that he had enough guts to come to the Leaf Village, not by stealth or in force, but by walking right up to the front gate, alone."

Both her jonin looked at her and nodded slowly.

"I know," Tsunade admitted as a far-away smile warmed her countenance. "My thought process is a bit more 'intuitive' than Lord Sarutobi's. With any luck," she said with a toss of her head, "that'll turn out to be a good thing."

* * *

**And Finally…**

"Oh, I see now, Yuudai," gasped the older man in a voice dripping with sarcasm and know-it-all middle-age as he struggled up the stairway then hunched to catch his breath when he, at last, reached the top-floor landing. "We just happen to be passing through the Leaf Village and YOU want to go on a tour of its tenements."

"Aw, would you give me a break this one time?" grumbled the younger, a sunburned wraith with calloused hands, dirty boots and hopelessly-stained work clothes, whose eyes settled on the apartment door as if it were a puzzle. "And I said you should wait for me."

"But the caravan's going to leave without us!"

"So GO, Isao! I'll catch up," Yuudai blurted then went to the balcony's questionable-looking railing, looked up squinting, and found that this was indeed as high as they could go.

"And get yelled at for losing you? No way! Not THIS time!"

"Well then MAYBE you could help."

"Help? With what?" Isao complained, then straightened his flat-topped cap and embroidered jacket. "What are we doing here?" He looked around and his nose wrinkled. "This is a place where…where spiders and pigeons go to die."

"Will you stop?" barked Yuudai with useless insistence as he looked again at the door. "This has gotta be it."

"Gotta be what?"

Yuudai rolled his eyes. "The place that Ichi-ban ramen guy told me to go – the top apartment."

"What are you talking about?

The younger man paused for a breath then glared at Isao. "Are you TRYING to drive me crazy?"

Isao watched as Yuudai un-slung his haversack and produced a stout, cardboard tube about a foot long, capped at the ends. "You still haven't delivered that?" he pestered. "You've had it for…for, well, for a long time now! Months and months!"

"Four months, I know, I know."

"Well why didn't you deliver it sooner?"

"Because there was a damn WAR going on last time we were gonna come to Konohagakure no Sato," Yuudai plead. "Even that ninja delivery service doesn't deliver to war zones, especially when it's three hidden villages going at it."

Isao frowned and rubbed his slack chin. "Alright, alright," he seemed to accept for the moment. "But listen, look at this place. Nobody could live HERE. You'd have a damn heart attack climbing all those damn stairs every day."

The younger man looked around critically. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he agreed, crestfallen, then urged at once: "Come on, let's check down one floor."

The pair went back to the stairway but ended up giving way instead to the small, wild-haired, blond boy who trudged tiredly up it then staggered past them, his youthful, peach-colored face covered in ugly, red welts.

The older man looked down at the kid's ragged expression then his blue boots, the lurid orange pants and jacket, and lastly the shock of bright yellow hair, barely contained by a blue hitai-ate, that made him the spitting-image of a living dandelion. "Sheesh," he muttered derisively to his junior, "look at this, the circus must be in town."

The boy stopped dead in his tracks then spun with surprising vigor. "WHAT was that?!" he growled.

"Nothing, kid, nothing!" Yuudai prevailed. "Forget it; this old guy's an idiot."

Frowning, the orange newcomer's mood retreated again into hibernation as he slowly turned back around.

"Yeah, kid, I didn't mean anything by it," Isao added cloyingly despite Yuudai frantically waving him off, "besides, you shouldn't be mad at me, you should be mad at whoever sold you those CLOTHES. They had a meeeeeeean sense of humor."

The old man startled then as he suddenly found the boy up in his chest yelling at him, so close that the kid's boots were almost treading on his toes. "Hey!" bellowed the blond in a voice shrill and gravelly, "don't you see this headband? That means I'm not just 'some kid' but a big-time ninja! Naruto Uzumaki! Ninja-legend and future Hokage!"

Isao, unimpressed, clutched his hands to his bosom in mock admiration. "Oooooh, I'm so impressed by the little --."

"WAIT!" said the younger companion in an urgent voice that sliced through the intensity of their altercation, then stared at the boy. "Did you say 'Naruto Uzumaki'?

"Um, yeah," a stunned Naruto replied blankly. "Have…have you really heard about me?"

The man giggled like a lunatic. "I sure have!" he crowed then thrust the cardboard tube into the boy's chest, nodded with great satisfaction then said to Isao: "Let's go."

"Wait!" said the yellow-haired leaf-ninja who stared at his unexpected present. "What is this?"

The messengers continued down the stairway. "Dunno kid!" the younger one deigned to answer. "Open it and find out!"

The genin frowned, leaned over the railing and wailed at them: "But who's it FROM?"

"Dunno!" Yuudai's voice answered back, growing ever more distant with each passing step. "Not my problem! Maybe you won a contest or something. Maybe it's a subpoena. Whatever it is, it's all yours now! Hell, you can throw it out if you want to; I've done MY job!"

The boy's bright, sapphire eyes narrowed to slits as he looked after the two men then at what they'd given him.

"_Weirdoes,"_ he grumbled then went to the door to his apartment, unlocked it and went in for the first time in several days.

Going on missions was part of ninja life and though he loved the adventure there was something he hated about being away from home for so long. He always seemed to MISS stuff, like some big fight that had happened a few days ago in Senju Park which people were still talking about.

"Figures I'd miss it," Naruto lamented, shut the door, dropped his package on his table then went immediately to the refrigerator.

Having learned the hard way NOT to eat any perishables that had more than one color and texture and to check the milk's expiration date, the boy quickly discovered that those simple rules excluded everything he had in stock. Naruto groaned, then smiled as he went to his favorite go-to food – instant ramen! It NEVER went bad!

Pouring a pot full of tap water, he put it on the stove to boil which always took FOREVER especially when he was THIS hungry. Meanwhile, he looked through the abundant medical supplies Sakura had insisted he take for anything he could put on his bee stings. The young leaf-ninja's hand settled finally on a tub of promising-looking ointment, but by then the unwatched pot was boiling over!

Once he'd eaten and had beaten down the hunger pangs, Naruto cast a sly look toward the cardboard tube he'd been given then smiled mischievously as he crept up on it like it was a cricket that might jump away. Although tired from his long trip home and really, really wanting to get some rest, the sheer novelty, the mystery of this arrival teased him.

**'Open me!'** said the tube in his imagination. '**It's a surprise!'**

The genin giggled -- a hard, satisfying giggle that engaged his entire body. Inside could be…anything. Absolutely ANYTHING! The sense of anticipation was truly delicious, and Naruto could swear he could literally taste it!

It was a shame to open this thing really, then…then it would just turn out to be whatever it was which was bound to disappoint. How could it not? No matter what definitive 'something' lay within, it could only fall short of the broad spectrum of things encompassed by 'anything'.

The blond ninja put the tip of his tongue between his teeth, raised the tube close to his ear, closed his eyes and gave it a shake, listening intently. No rattle, just a plain old document of some kind sliding around in there.

_Oh, ok,_ Naruto said to himself, rolled his eyes, then opened the tube and dumped out its contents – a short scroll of calligraphy paper. The boy made a face, untied the string that bound it then glossed over the admirable brushstrokes.

**Naruto:**

**I am alive, my friend, though I know it must be difficult to believe…**

"WHAT THE?!" gasped Naruto, his blue eyes popping wide, then began again. Focusing intently, the young ninja gripped the paper's edges tight and tried to slow down from trying to read faster than he could process until at last he made it through the first paragraph.

_Haku,_ the name flashed in his mind along with a riot of intense emotions and memories. _Haku is…is ALIVE!_

_'You'll catch cold if you sleep here, wake up,'_ Naruto remembered the calm, maternal voice that had roused him in that Wave Country forest, then the angelic face he'd awoken too who's grey eyes regarded him with such concern, such kindness; maybe the second person in all the world to ever look at him like that.

_But it's…it's IMPOSSIBLE!_ his thoughts boiled. _Haku…Kakashi's chidori?!_ Naruto tried to read on, to read the author's long list of things he apologized for but the strange, slender shinobi's voice whispered hauntingly in the boy's head: _'I have my dreams as you have yours.'_

There was something written then about a girl and then the Mist's ANBU – an implacable team of five.

_'When a person has something important to protect, that is when they truly become strong,'_ Haku advised him once again.

Senbon flashed. Sasuke grimaced, cried out then fell to his knees, punctured muscles quivering and face constricted with agony. From all around them, the Demon's Apprentice's white, masked face looked out impassively from the shimmering mirror planes of the prison his kekkei-genkai had constructed around them.

_But-but-but, they BURIED Haku! I stood at his GRAVE! _Naruto gulped breathlessly. _Oh, MAN!_

Some big fight and then, a new life under a new name.

_'The whole time,' _rasped Zabuza as he lay near to death, _'his heart was breaking.'_

Whether an hour or a minute had gone by, it was hard to tell. But a window of blessed calm opened in Naruto's fevered mind during which his eyes lowered and read quite clearly:

**…and I feel as though, no, I am quite certain I have you to thank in part for this. Throughout my recent trials you have never been far from my thoughts – your acceptance of me as I truly am; your kindness and your courage, the memory of which helped guide me through these difficult times.**

**So I wanted you to know, even if you cannot forgive me, how grateful I am to have met you and how very much you've meant to me.**

**--H**

Naruto stared at the letter, face frozen, blue eyes unblinking but swimming in the euphoric turbulence of his thoughts. A shiver traveled through him as the whole world shrank down to just him and the letter he clutched, held open between trembling hands. This was much more than just a sheet of paper -- it was a bridge that spanned time, distance and even the unfathomable boundaries between life and death…connecting Naruto to the very first friend he'd ever had.

Suddenly, the young ninja bolted, fleeing in such haste that he was gone long before the fluttering, abandoned scroll came to rest on the apartment floor…with the wide-open door swaying gently in the draft.

**End of Part 1.**

* * *

I do hope you liked that. Thanks so much for reading. Please let me know what you think :D. 'Till next time! --Jonohex.

* * *

That concludes the first 'story arc' of **Kirigakure's Shore** called Mission to Konohagakure.

The next arc in this story is called Snow Angels -- An artifact left at Haku's grave leads the young ninja in a search for the secrets to his ancestry. Meanwhile, Wave Country's building-boom continues apace, but what exactly is it becoming? Chuuya and Inari continue their training, and Naruto learns that Haku is alive.


	9. Snow Angels Part 1

Hi, and welcome back. Sorry for the delay. Just to brace you, this chapter, the first in a new arc called 'Snow Angels' is 44 pages in MS Word and probably WAY, way, way too long for fanfiction which seems to favor stories with shorter chapters updated more often. I would break a novel-sized chapter like this into two chapters at least but it really wouldn't have made much sense as far as where I'd have had to leave off.

In any case, after my previous detour to the Hidden Leaf Village (had to be done), I'm back to the main plot. By the end I hope you'll think that's a good thing and that I haven't gone flying off the rails. You'll see what I mean. But please, let me know what you think either way. Basically, if you're not infuriated and going WTF?, I'll be happy. ^^'

Thanks,

--Jonohex

* * *

Part 2, Snow Angels -- An artifact left at Haku's grave leads the young ninja in a search for the secrets to his ancestry. Wave Country's building boom continues apace, but what exactly is it becoming? Inari and Chuuya continue their training; meanwhile Naruto discovers that Haku is alive.

* * *

**Inari**

Stalking warily as best he could over the rugged countryside, Inari searched for and at the same time was on guard against his training partner, Chuuya. Sweat dripped down the ten year-old's cheeks, more from tension than the heat of the day as a brisk sea breeze swept the shallow canyons.

_Wow, this sneaking around stuff is hard work,_ the aspiring shinobi moped. _No matter how hard I try I'm still as loud as an elephant, maybe even a herd!_

Having trained in the ninja arts for _three whole months_ now, Tazuna's grandson burned with frustration that he hadn't made better progress than THIS. His sensei, Haku, certainly explained things in ways that made them seem simple; and he sure made practically everything LOOK simple. But whenever his young student tried to apply what he'd learned, it was so HARD!

Inari again thought of his new teacher's girlish laugh as he would advise in his gentle and understanding way for him to be patient – again, something that sounded simple in theory that was actually hard in practice.

The boy paused, cast a look up into the brilliant expanse of blue sky above then stood straight -- a lone figure against the rocky terrain dressed, as he always did, in teal overalls, white turtleneck and floppy, white hat…though he'd been starting to think about mixing it up a bit now that granddad could easily afford to get him new clothes.

Around Inari's lean waist circled a rope belt on which hung three lengths of red cloth, those that remained from his starting five. Not a bad showing so far, the student assessed, considering he'd been able to steal _three _off Chuuya who was older and had been training longer.

The would-be ninja smirked.

Haku had explained that the theory behind this game of 'flag sparring' was: if you could get close enough and with control enough to snatch one without losing one of your own, then you had gotten close enough to land a significant blow.

Despite that he was ahead by one, Inari knew that was no reason to get cocky. Chuuya was still bigger than him, stronger than him, had more chakra and could already perform a real jutsu – the 'cannon fist'. Though the younger (only by a year!) Inari was a little quicker, a little smarter and usually a little better at these kinds of exercises, there was no doubt in the boy's mind that he was the one who had to catch up.

As for the notoriety the bridge-builder's grandson had gained leading the villagers to take a stand against Gato's gangs of thugs -- that had already faded. Most everyone living in the Land of Waves now was a newcomer who didn't know anything about the First Battle at the Bridge or how bad things were under Gato's de-facto regime. The rest had, well, not _forgotten_ exactly, but moved on, busy with plenty of other things to think about than what happened eight months ago.

_'It's for the best,'_ -- that's what Haku-sensei had said then regarded Inari with grey eyes far more full of experience than the teenager's youthful face told. _'It's much better to be remembered for the entirety of your life rather than just one moment of it.'_

Tazuna had a somewhat different take, having explained gruffly: _'Ya did a great thing, Inari, but nobody's gonna kiss your little butt forever_._ In this world it's strictly 'what have you done for me LATELY'. Now…go on and take out the garbage.'_

Gulls cried as they circled high above. Having stopped for this long gave Inari's muscles another chance to complain at having had to climb, run, scramble and sometimes fight all over this rough, Wave Country countryside. The boy's hands were raw from grabbing on to rocks and trees, his cheeks and nose pink from sunburn, and knees and elbows scraped even through his clothes. Plus, he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast and was STARVING!

Another careful look around the scrub-covered terrain yielded no sight at all of Chuuya, who had suddenly become oddly elusive.

"Man," Inari grumbled, whisked off his hat then wiped his forehead as he sat down to rest on a nearby flat-topped boulder.

It was times like this that Inari could hardly believe that becoming a ninja could possibly be so much work. He couldn't _imagine_ Naruto putting up with all the training and study. But then, thinking about it again, when his friends from the Hidden Leaf Village were here to protect his grandfather, all three genin had trained really hard. And Naruto had even stayed out all night trying to master one of Kakashi-sensei's exercises.

Inari's young brow knitted seriously.

As for his own sensei's training under the notorious Demon of the Hidden Mist, well, the boy sure couldn't imagine what THAT must have been like.

"I guess," he muttered to himself, "this really IS what it takes."

Just then, the faintest noise grabbed Inari's attention and he looked down at his side where short, outstretched fingers reached slowly from the underbrush toward one of his red strips. The black-haired boy yelped and flinched away just as the grasping hand snapped, missing just barely.

Taken by surprise, Inari stumbled and fell but managed to roll to his feet. Even before he looked he knew it was his paunchy, round-headed partner, or rather, _adversary,_ in this case. The older boy, though clad in a baggy evergreen t-shirt and grey shorts, (and, of course, a rope belt with those two lengths of red cloth remaining) had caked himself in dust, even his slightly pudgy face and coal-black hair. That's what had made him so hard to spot!

Chuuya, smelling victory, flashed a lion's grin, leaped atop the stone his teammate had just been sitting on then dropped down and charged low. The bigger boy clipped Inari hard just above the hip with a shoulder, knocking him breathless and coming away with a flag.

"Ow! HEY! You can't do that!" barked Inari, hot with anger, half doubled over and rubbing his side. "No contact, remember?!"

A gleeful Chuuya, with red trophy raised high, sobered suddenly at the remark then gave his teammate a sour look. "Oh, COME ON," he brayed and threw up his hands in a tortured, dramatic gesture. "That was incidental! Quit being such a baby! You're just mad 'cause we're TIED now!"

'Incidental' was the word sensei had used to mean accidental, slight and/or unavoidable. The former Demon's Apprentice had stated unambiguously that they were NOT to spar, let alone fight, _ever_ without his supervision for risk of injury. Of course, it hadn't stopped them before.

Chuuya, frowning, stalked forward cagily, intent on the younger boy's remaining flags then rushed.

Inari, his brain clogged with the dozen or so techniques he'd learned, settled wisely on what Haku had taught him about the benefits of lateral movement, sidestepped then fired the edge of his hand at the side of his teammate's head. His blow though, thrown while off-balance, only touched the surface of Chuuya's ear and had no effect at all.

The older boy stopped, enraged at being hit deliberately even if only lightly, wheeled toward the younger, spun and fired a mighty roundhouse kick just as the unyielding Inari did the same. Their shins cracked. Both shriveled in pain then fell to the ground, wailing and clutching at their legs, eyes watering.

* * *

After a lengthy recovery and an airing of grievances, the two called a truce then had lunch.

"Hey," Inari asked, having meant to all morning, "where IS sensei, anyway?"

Chuuya chewed a sticky rice-ball in cow-like fashion, swallowed then looked around as if someone might actually overhear them way out in the wilderness where they sat. "He's gone for a few days," said the round-headed boy. "Do you remember that old saucer we found at Haku-sensei's grave, with the fancy design on it?"

Inari nodded.

"Well it's like, really, really rare and from some kind of high-rolling ninja clan from way back," Chuuya reported meaningfully with dark eyes widening. "So he's gone to check it out."

His younger teammate gave a confused grimace then rubbed his head. "Why would he want to do that?"

"_Because_," the elder endeavored to clarify through a mouth half full of another rice ball, "Sensei thinks it could be something to do with where he came from, you know, that it might be HIS clan, his FAMILY!"

Inari recalled vaguely that Haku had been an orphan when Zabuza found him, and that all clans possessing a blood gift had been all but wiped out during the aftermath of a series of terrible civil wars that had raged for years in the Land of Water. It made sense to him now that someone who knew sensei's family, or of them, might leave an offering like that to honor his spirit.

"Wow!" Inari chimed, now realizing the import.

"Don't tell anybody!" Chuuya cautioned him direly as he leaned forward sharply with an anxious, intent look on his face. "Mari said it's a secret and she'd KILL me if I told."

Inari blinked, appreciating the gravity of the threat. "But…you just told ME!"

Chuuya looked at him askance. "I have to tell YOU, you're my partner," he said as if Inari should have known.

The younger boy nodded very seriously but couldn't help but grin just a little. A lot of the time it seemed like he and Chuuya were competitors instead of friends. As training partners, they'd put each other through an awful lot over the last few months so it hard to tell sometimes.

So it was kind of nice to have a little confirmation that, wherever they stood, it was at least on the same side.

* * *

**Sakura**

Sakura Haruno sat alone at a table near the front of the quiet, empty classroom, her green eyes and carefully-balanced chakra energies focused hard on the shallow, water-filled dish in front of her in which rested a small rectangle of eel skin marred by a diagonal cut.

Though most academic exercises came to her easily enough, the kunoichi found knitting tissue back together incredibly difficult. Over the course of an hour, she'd only managed to repair the wound by about a quarter of an inch.

_That's not exactly going to help anyone who's been hacked apart with a sword! It's not even any use in surgery, _she thought and realized that was part of what the exercise was supposed to teach too – that the strength of the human body was fleeting and often illusory, easy to damage and not so easy to repair.

_Still,_ Sakura's pride shouldered its way to the front of her mind, _you should be doing better than THIS. Concentrate! Cha!_

Re-devoting herself to the effort and vowing to do whatever it took to measure more highly in her mentor, Lady Tsunade's, eyes, the girl's face set like stone, lips frowning, brow beetled, completely absorbed as she set her focus tight on the tiny dish before her and that scrap of eel-skin. It was all too easy to imagine that it was the rent flesh of a real patient whose very life hung in the balance; a patient relying on HER to knit him back together.

Fiber by fiber, the diligent apprentice worked; her chakra energy swirling in mandalic intricacy; the rhythmic interplay of her breath and heartbeat whispering harmony in her ears.

Suddenly, a HUGE whisker-marked, peach-colored, blue-eyed face filled her vision. **"SAKURA!"** it blurted in a gravelly, high-pitched voice.

"Iiieeeee!" the startled pink-haired girl shrieked as she flinched back in her chair then found herself teetering precariously on its back legs, hovering there with arms flailing, on the brink of rocking all the way over.

The kunoichi held her breath, tightened her stomach and waited anxiously for physics' final verdict. Gradually, Sakura was rewarded with a favorable pull that spared her a date with the floor and she came forward. Harvesting the momentum, the girl shot to her feet and her angry palm thundered hard across Naruto Uzumaki's blonde skull. _Whack!_

"NARUTO I WAS CONCENTRATING!" she barked harshly then shook her fist at him.

"OW!" cried the short, orange-clad genin who reeled from the blow and clutched his arms protectively around his head. "Ow…ow…OW," he went on as he staggered woefully around the room, "ow…OW…ow," in a wide circle right back to the exact spot where the glaring, emerald-eyed, terribly pissed-off kunoichi stood with her hands thrust into her hips.

"Sakura!" said Naruto again then looked up at her as if for the first time, having already apparently completely forgotten she'd hit him.

The girl in the red dress piped with silver stiffened with disbelief, turned away then crossed her arms coldly. "WHAT, Naruto?"

"It's Haku!" her teammate explained in a plaintive tone, sapphire eyes swimming with emotion. "You remember HIM, right? Haku from when we went to Wave Country to protect that crazy old bridge-builder; with the funny clothes, the white mask and all those needles? YOU know, Zabuza's student with the ice-mirrors and the snow, and the--the, and who killed Sasuke except that he really didn't? And then Kakashi –."

"Naruto, I remember! I was there too! Sheesh!"

"Well, get THIS: he's --." The boy wet his lips, looked around the cavernous, empty classroom anxiously then crept close…closer…then even CLOSER until the increasingly nervous Sakura started to lean away.

"Alive?" she offered with quiet sympathy, understanding now what he meant at least, then nodded. "I know."

Naruto gasped then fell back as if stabbed. "AAAAGH!" he cried and pointed at her, the boy's expressive face popping wide. "How did YOU know?!"

Sakura expressed a sigh. "He was here…just a few days ago."

"What? Here in the Hidden Leaf Village?!"

Sakura again nodded then sat on the corner of the table. "You were still out on a mission," she explained then added: "He asked about you."

"Really? He did?" Naruto's voice cracked then he looked up at her eagerly, expectantly. "So…what -- what'd you say? What'd you tell him?"

"The truth," Sakura answered playfully with a clever smirk, "that you were still stupid."

"Awwwwwwwwww!" Deflated, Naruto slumped into a chair then leaned forward on his knees. "I can't believe I missed him," he mumbled sadly.

The girl gave a thoughtful hum, remembering how surprised _she'd_ been, then smirked at how hard Ino had flirted with him.

Looking at Naruto, Sakura could see how badly he wanted to see Haku again and how upset, even hurt, he felt at not being able to. A faint smile came to her face. Naruto Uzumaki (future hokage, and if you don't believe it just ask him) was something else – infuriating one minute and endearing the next. Throughout Team 7's travels, he always seemed to have a way of bringing out the best in so many of those they'd encountered. Maybe it was the hyperactive blonde's boundless enthusiasm, his optimism, his utter lack of pretension that people responded to. Maybe it was just that he gave others a chance and never set his judgments about them in stone – a kindness that had rarely been extended to him.

"It was something," the young kunoichi offered, "to see him alive again."

The novice medical-ninja's eyes studied her teammate's downcast face which she now couldn't help but notice was studded with swollen, red spots. "Hey, Naruto," she said then looked closer, "are those, are those bee stings?"

"Huh," said the boy who roused from his reverie. "Oh, yeah. I was trying to get some honeycomb for these kids 'cuz I didn't want em' to get hurt. Where I was, the bees are really big and they nest way, WAY up high on cliffs." His golden eyebrows knitted as he frowned. "Who'da thought bees would be so greedy over a little honey? I mean, it's not like they can't make more, right?"

Sakura went to her medical bag then froze as her mind tried to process what the yellow-haired ninja had just said.

"Um, actually, Naruto," she felt obliged to comment, "everyone would think that."

"Oh."

Once the girl had what she needed, Sakura gingerly scraped off the remaining stingers from the boy's face and neck then applied ointment. "I don't know how you keep getting into trouble like this. Honestly."

"I can't believe Haku's still alive," Naruto muttered in his gravelly tenor. "Man. Is he ok?"

"Yeah, he really is," the kunoichi replied then revealed fondly once she'd thought about it: "But he seemed disappointed that he didn't get to see you."

Suddenly Naruto's eyes widened and he jumped up, startling the girl yet again. "Wait a minute – Kakashi-sensei!" he cried then gave Sakura a wild look. "I'VE GOT TO TELL **HIM!**"

"Wait, hold on, Naruto!" said the girl, but now the room was empty.

Sakura let out a breath, far from surprised, then walked over to close the window.

"Kakashi already knows because he met Haku too and talked to him for quite awhile. But," the pink-haired girl offered softly in closing then settled back down to continue her practice from where she'd left off, "I guess you'll…just…find out for yourself."

* * *

**The Guardian Spirit**

GOOD FREND FOR JESUS SAKE FORBEARE TO

DIGG THE DUST ENCLOASED HEARE.

BLEST BE YE MAN YT SPARES THES STONES AND

CURST BE HE YT MOVES MY BONES.

William Shakespeare – Epitaph

* * *

_Could it be?_ the guardian spirit's thoughts whispered darkly in the labyrinthine chasms of its awakening mind. _Another intruder?_

Skeletal limbs reached through the womb of snowfall and parted it enough for it to emerge again into the lands of men. The white world it beheld stretched off in every direction toward a mist-veiled horizon then up into a cosmos of fuming greys and pearls.

In the distance the monster's rheumy, pale blue eyes, pin-pupilled and bloodshot, discerned an upright sliver of dark that flowed steadily over the limitless fields of blinding white, snow-mantled hills; the only thing present moved not by the cold wind's biting, bitter urgings but by its own volition.

In time, this lone, invading shape resolved into a figure whose edges remained blurry and indistinct amidst the haze. Soon after though, it became clear that this was a person, a man, no, from her size and gait more likely a young woman dressed, as good sense would dictate, in layers of clothing – a heavy coat of ocean blue and a hooded, winter cape to match. The perfume of her soft breaths puffed warm and misty in the wintry air.

_Ah!_ the guardian hissed and savored this moment which moved its soul like an aria the notes of which, it knew, would surge into a symphony even more sublime ere long.

Its impatient eyes burned like coals, hot with intensity then shuddered closed, unable to bear the joyous sight an instant longer.

This trespasser, though unforgivably vile beyond what any mere words could tell, had granted the monster's greatest wish – to allow it to serve its divine purpose once again.

The caped stranger stopped suddenly, like a wary animal, then looked across the rolling fields of snow toward where the guardian spirit lay deep in concealment.

_Hah! _it realized then shrank, looked away and tried to distract itself. Clearly, this intruder was no normal sort of girl, but a shinobi, a kunoichi.

The more crafty of their ilk could hear your thoughts, your feelings and intentions as clearly as plainly spoken words. Her evident vocation explained too how she was able to cross the deep snow so easily, by gliding over its fragile surface using the power of her internal force, her chakra.

It would be hard, thought the guardian _obake_, but it would have to exercise restraint and patience with this one. It would have to wait for just the right moment.

The monster's thin lips, chapped and cracked from the cold, twitched then curled into a cruel, expectant smile.

_Huh?_

It turned at an other-worldly presence. There behind it, cold and quiet, stood the lord's captain of guards, a mighty jonin, resplendent in her panoply of arms: an armored, high-collared vest worn over fatigues of blue piped with gold; a straight sword worn over her back, and her sightless face masked below the bridge of the nose. And though the woman's hitai-ate still carried the sigil of traitorous Kirigakure, the village that had in the end abandoned then helped destroy her, her arm bore the crane-and-carp crest of the island's noble family.

_What a figure she must have been in life to possess such a magnificent and overpowering presence in death,_ the guardian considered with deep admiration.

Without even a word, the shade had reminded it of the need to take its duties seriously. True service was sacrifice…NOT indulgence.

The guardian nodded, obedient always to the will of the hereafter, then set out.

* * *

In time, the unwelcome stranger wandered up through the highlands past ragged clusters of evergreens hunkered in frozen vigil defiant against the cold, while their deciduous brethren, bare-branched and barren for now, persevered instead by yielding to it.

Heedless of them, the girl continued through barrens and fields then through the remnants of a village long-abandoned, passing without pausing to mark the lonesome chimneys and crumbled gables which alone peeked through the enveloping snow.

With unforgivable temerity, the monster noted then scowled from the wilds where it lurked, she continued her trek uphill toward the castle.

Only there before the sagging corpse of a once-handsome gate did the intruder finally deign to stop.

The wind rippled her clothing, whistling harshly its rebuke over snow-capped broken ramparts, while the mantled stranger studied what remained. Walls of dark, jigsaw-puzzle masonry towered still, but from those tapered, adamantine faces whole portions had given way with stone spilling everywhere into snow-shrouded, fan-shaped heaps.

Amidst the twin voices of wind and distant surf, the girl dipped her head inquisitively toward the guardhouse (only a travesty of scorched timbers and tiles now), then canted it toward the higher landscapes beyond which were commanded by the icicle-curtained ruins of the great house.

Vacillating between rage and fascination, a figure gaunt and pale shadowed the trespasser warily through bulwarks of shattered stone, long unmanned and savaged by the elements, uncared for by all but one.

Though delirious for blood, the guardian could not help but appreciate how, every so often, this presumptive girl in blue would slow to a contemplative pace – to search maybe or reflect, at times brooding thoughtfully, seeking perhaps to catch a glimpse, however fleeting, of the castle's former grandeur, or merely to let herself be moved by the spirit of this holy place.

_No, _the monster remonstrated itself, pallid fingers flexing, teeth clicking restlessly.

It was hard not to feel a little sympathy towards someone possessed possibly of a poetic nature, whose soul could be touched by the haunted qualities of these ruins.

_But it still won't do. Even a thoughtful trespasser is STILL a trespasser._

The young kunoichi navigated unhurriedly yet purposefully between rows of blackened, skeletal outbuildings toward the mansion of which only a maze of jagged-topped walls, fallen columns and naked ridge beams remained all encumbered by draperies of snow and overgrown by jungles of ice.

The pale monster, struggling to contain its impulses, followed her dutifully, creeping effortlessly up what was solid, slipping quietly through what was void, remaining at all times unseen and unheard. All the while and all around it, the essences of those who'd roamed these great halls at the height of their glory, lords and ladies, servants and soldiers, implored their lone executor to dispense with this intruder who had chosen to disturb their dignified peace.

The sight of these noble souls' distress ravaged its eyes; the sounds of their torment tore at its ears. What irony! So _many_ poets write of how death intrudes upon the living; so few consider how the rude living violate the sanctity of the dead!

It was almost a blessing when the caped figure herself distracted the solitary guardian then as she dipped her delicate chin and stooped, having chanced upon something noteworthy there in the snow-blanketed wreckage. When the kunoichi rose, she held up her find – a lady's hand mirror. The looking-glass was gone and the handle cracked, yet still it remained an elegantly-wrought treasure from the past.

The obake's mouth hinged open in a horrified gasp.

_A…a GRAVE ROBBER!_ it raged, quivering at the thought, but then, after a few moments, with the greatest delicacy and much to its surprise, the girl gently set the article back down right where she'd found it.

Seeking then a private corner sheltered from the wind, the stranger made of it an altar, producing a small plate and a few modest offerings of fruit, rice and wine to leave upon it. With the precision and reverence of a Mother Superior, the intruding kunoichi set beside the rest two sticks of incense then intoned a brief prayer with gloved hands pressed together as the thin, fragrant smoke swirled into the frigid air.

For the monster, these respects struck it as a conundrum. Anger ebbed but suspicion remained.

_It doesn't matter,_ the guardian decided at last, for its wrath was not easily set aside. _You have better manners than most, but you must still die for having come here._

Exploring further, the girl navigated the cratered remains of the great house's eastern wing. There the intruder embarked upon a much more thorough search and sifted carefully through the wreckage footstep by footstep.

Baffled at this turn, the obake kept its distance.

_What could you be up to now?_ it wondered, then really didn't know what to think when the odd trespasser uncovered not another treasure but an ugly scrap of metal, curved in profile, jagged around the edges and rusted into little more than a mass of brown flakes.

Discarding the thing with a gesture of distaste after a few moments of study, the kunoichi sprang suddenly to the top of the highest wall still extant. In such haste did she act that the obake thought sure she had seen it somehow and was, very wisely, making an attempt to flee. But instead the girl stopped there upon her vantage and looked down, eastward over the sea.

* * *

After that the trespasser, seemingly immune to the chill and the forlorn solitude of this place unlike those few who'd come before, wandered through the rest of the ruined complex – the halls, private chambers and armories, the kitchens where only a few stone hearths and toppled chimneys remained, the long shacks for slaves and contract-servants. She then proceeded down a series of grand ramps and stairs toward the harbor where no ship had docked in decades; where the ocean-side fish pools and hatcheries had all long been filled with debris and snow.

Secreted nearby, the scheming monster planned its ambush.

From her comportment thus far, it was already quite certain that this trespassing young ninja would not retrace her steps through the castle but instead follow the shoreline path up and around it, re-enter through the lower precincts then exit back the way she'd come.

Atop a bulwark close to the gatehouse ruins is where the obake waited for the girl in delicious anticipation. After what seemed an eternity, FINALLY, it felt the radiant warmth of her blood as she approached, heard the slow rhythm of her as-yet untroubled heart then watched as the intruder passed back along the base of the outer palisade almost directly beneath it.

The monster's eyes rolled back into its head as a shudder took it, a sensual spasm of passion that it fought hard to control. Only the idea of losing its quarry outright allowed the guardian to wrest back the reigns of its urges.

It hardly had to prepare for what was so natural for it anyway and so, as quiet as a cloud, the wraith leaped from the top of the wall then plunged down at the trespasser whose dark, blue, hooded shape grew large in its eyes. A tangled stream of long, white hair flowed from the guardian's head like a comets tail. In only a moment it would hear the music of the girl's final gasp, the sound of her supple flesh as it yielded to its body, and behold again the exquisite spray of blood, bright and vivid against the unfeeling earth's mantle of snow.

_Oh, _it thought. _Interesting._

It had been so long since the guardian had failed to cut its foe that it'd actually forgotten the sensation. Yet there it was. The obake had missed. Actually, it was far more accurate and fair to say that its prey had evaded.

The guardian spirit stood there in the snow with bare hand and arm outstretched. From that arm sprouted a startling arrangement of white blades – its own living bones, fluid before its will but keener than any metal forged.

The obake's eyes of bloodshot, pale blue locked for a moment on the delicate, gloved and long-fingered hand that grasped it at the elbow, then followed the slender arm up to where it vanished beneath the girl's cape under which it could make out the grey and blue uniform, a tapered club with a flanged hook close to the handle, and a singular emblem of a wave crashing.

"I was wondering when you'd see fit to introduce yourself," her low, calm and lilting voice intoned, jangling unpleasantly across the guardian spirit's consciousness. "So who are you?"

The _obake's _eyes slid toward her hooded face and beheld there a cool beauty: flawless porcelain skin, long black hair and big, grey eyes that were sure and expressive. Upon her alabaster brow she wore a hitai-ate with the cursed emblem of the Village Hidden in the Mist.

Clearly, this mist-ninja was unafraid. That was unexpected too but it would change soon enough.

The monster's already-savage expression narrowed then its lips twitched, dancing and jumping like ragged lightning across a night sky. At last they peeled back, baring ivory teeth in a ghastly, death's-head rictus of a smile.

* * *

**Gennosuke**

Festive, nighttime crowds rolled and rollicked in eerie quiet, laughing and chatting without words or sound. Among them wandered Gennosuke Serizawa who, barely waist-high beside them, stared up in a detached sort of amazement. The child had been having dreams like this for a few days now, vague and shadowy in some ways but vivid, detailed and emotionally-intense in others. They were a facet of his kekkei-genkai, that's what Tohma-sensei said, but despite that, finding himself in one of these illusory realms seemed anything _but_ natural.

The living, moving walls of people parted like theater curtains, revealing to the small, curly lavender-haired child the entrance to a carnival.

"_Step right up!"_ welcomed the barker whose lofty face remained nothing more than a dark blob beneath a shallow, broad-brimmed conical hat on which the characters for 'water' and 'shadow' were scribed. _"Come on! Just for YOU, kid, admission is FREE!"_

In the boy walked, though the sensation felt more like drifting, being carried by some unseen current. To his left and right hunkered limitless gaudy stalls, kiosks and stands offering, sometimes demanding, that he eat curious foods, engage in tests of strength or intellect, play games of chance or consult the supernatural. Likewise was Gennosuke presented with opportunities to watch animals perform routines never seen in nature, acrobats engage in dangerous stunts, freaks display themselves for his amusement, or to be accosted by clowns whose leers and bizarre antics were far more terrifying than comical.

Though the path he traveled was arrow-straight, the carnival itself twisted and turned dizzyingly around him, leading the boy in time before a raised podium in front of which fanned several curved rows of empty chairs.

Taking a seat in one of them, Gennosuke looked up to suddenly find all the others occupied. There were men, women and children, some he recognized but many he didn't. All belonged to clans like his own – those hunted to near extinction by Kirigakure and the cruel lords of the Land of Water. He felt, not necessarily kinship, but a palpable sense of belonging; that this was indeed his proper place.

The boy's gaze wandered over the top of the rows of heads in front of him toward the podium where his own teacher, Tohma-sensei, rose up commandingly and took charge. The towering, shaggy-haired man looked over the crowd then raised a baton with an elegant flourish.

Gennosuke stiffened automatically, reflexes telling him he was supposed to do something but he wasn't sure what. Just then his sensei's ally, Lord Noriyasu Tsujita, appeared from nowhere and cleared his throat, ready to perform.

Sensei traced a gentle arc in the air at which the sad-eyed Tsujita began to sing – not in the dull, uncertain voice he had in the waking world but in a powerful basso!

Gennosuke brought a violin, his instrument, expertly to his cheek as those around him raised theirs. The full orchestra, of which he was a part, then began to play.

As their music swelled to fill the air the surrounding crowds withered like crops in a drought and fell dead, leaving the tents and lurid displays empty and unnecessary. The boy's bow faltered then as a distant bright streak shot up through the starless night then flared into an aerial display as vivid and colorful as a peacock's tail rendered in flame.

_Ah,_ Gennosuke marveled, having seen fireworks before.

As the child spellbound watched, more and more burst overhead and filled the sky with dazzling hues. It was like a harvest festival, the boy remembered with a far-away smile, or the celebration of the lunar New Year.

One of the abandoned carnival tents far off to his left exploded then, suddenly and silently, erupting into a quiet spectacle of annihilation with blinding flames and comets of wreckage flying in every direction.

The startled boy looked around but saw that no one else had even noticed.

He turned back apprehensively to watch, wide-eyed, as more explosions blossomed, falling closer and closer to where he and the other survivors played. Gennosuke thought he should say something, do something, but didn't want to interrupt, especially when the music sounded so nice.

Coming awake with a start, the boy gasped aloud but pure pride made him bite down before he could cry out.

Sitting up in bed surrounded by the shabby yet reassuringly-familiar confines of his room, the soft glow of an oil lamp, the crisp cling of his nightclothes, the small, hard futon under him and the keen of crickets outside, Gennosuke took a breath then let his head fall.

_It's not real,_ the child told himself though his heart pounded a drumbeat in his thin chest. _Just a dream._

But did he really know that? Even for those without the Serizawa bloodline, dreams were often taken to hold meaning.

A wan light glowed from behind the louvered wall to his room which slid open and Sakiko looked in from the long, covered porch outside, with paper lantern in one hand and dagger, gleaming white, in the other.

"Gennosuke?" the pale, white-haired girl in house-robes whispered because of the lateness of the hour; her concern coming through in the urgency of her voice, "are you alright? I thought I heard something."

The boy, years her younger, frowned then pouted. "Fine," he bristled curtly then retreated into icy, stubborn silence.

Sakiko studied him uncertainly for what he thought was too long. "Ok," she relented with forceful unconcern at last as her weapon, an extension of the bones from her own body, slid back into her palm. "Sorry to bother you."

Gennosuke's rust-colored eyes flicked up at her then looked away as the kunoichi moved to slide the panel shut again. "Sakiko?" he blurted impulsively before she could at which the girl shot him a glance.

The boy's expression quivered. "Do you think," he began in a worried tone. "Do you think Tohma-sensei's, you know, doing the right thing…sending Tsujita to wipe out Kirigakure?"

Sakiko raised an eyebrow, slid into the room then closed the panel of wooden slats behind her. "Don't YOU?" she replied quite perplexed then set her lantern down. "You were for the idea from the start."

"I know but," Gennosuke broke off then looked up at her in earnest. "But what do YOU think?"

The older girl shrugged, apparently convinced now that he wasn't just trying to find some way to make fun of her. "Mmm," she began then sat down beside him, the shaded lamp light flickering over her fair features. "I don't know to be honest. There're so few of us and we're all kind of trapped here. We've all been quite lucky so far but it's only a matter of time before we're discovered."

Sakiko, folding her hands in her lap, gathered her thoughts before giving him a more complete answer: "I can't be happy about the thought of so many people dying, and I can't get as mad at the Mist Village as sensei, Lord Tsujita and some of the others get. But," she wet her lips and concluded wistfully, "I suppose it's either them or us in the end."

The boy's brow narrowed. It was that same basic, elemental argument again – the one that had, until tonight, seemed so reasonable, so utterly un-contradictable.

"Are you feeling alright?"

Gennosuke nodded half-heartedly. "Bad dream, that's all."

The girl smiled. "'You want some water or something? I was just going out to get some."

His eyes narrowed with suspicion. Their relationship since his arrival had thus far had been prickly and contentious, not at all suggestive of doing favors. "How come you're being so nice to me?"

Sakiko smirked. "Who else am I going to be nice to, stupid?" she quipped then took his lack of immediate further objection as a 'yes'. "I'll be right back."

The girl rose, a benevolent pale white ghost, then left Gennosuke alone with only his thoughts and memories of his dream for company.

_Probably nothing,_ he consoled himself but the effort left him wanting.

It might have been just a dream…or it might have been much more – his consciousness taking flight from his body to visit the future, relaying into his understanding a translation of what it found awaiting there.

Was there even a way to tell one from the other?

"Dammit!" Gennosuke cursed and pressed his palm hard against his forehead, turning his fair skin white from the pressure.

It was maddening at times to have an ability like this, parts of which were so strange and uncontrollable. He often envied Sakiko and even her crazy-ass brother. At least THEY could control their kekkei-genkai. Their Kaguya genetics made them strong, a little strange-looking but still beautiful in a way; while his made him weak, broomstick thin and prone to getting sick – not a very good thing to be with a Tsujita around.

And as for his vaunted 'gifts' well, obviously the fact that the Serizawa clan had been massacred along with the others was proof enough of how little those were worth. Assuming some of his predecessors could project their consciousnesses like HE could, then they'd either failed to notice their impending extinction…or they HAD seen and still weren't able to do anything about it.

_Sucks either way,_ the boy grumbled.

Expressing a sigh, Gennosuke concentrated, closed his eyes then opened them. What he saw, however, were not the plank walls of his room but the long loggia just outside. Sending forth his spirit, the child's point of view swept and soared along the narrow, roofed porch that connected the sleeping rooms then off into the courtyard where it caught up with Sakiko.

Tohma-sensei had cautioned him against using his gift in such a way, to spy without purpose or only for amusement. _'It's a bad habit',_ he'd said, _'one sure to make you its slave'. _But his youngest student just couldn't help it sometimes.

Gennosuke watched the girl as she walked, so sure and graceful unlike him, toward the well. There were a couple of the others there already, fellow members of Sakiko's clan, but they had not been born with the Kaguya's blood-gift. They greeted her graciously enough though it was clear that she made even them a little uneasy.

The boy watched the kunoichi fill a pitcher then look up into the night sky and let the breeze blow ribbons of her white hair across her face.

_'Who else am I going to be nice too, stupid?!'_ – that's what she'd said. Gennosuke had never thought of it like that.

Everywhere in the Land of Water, life was cheap. Before finding his way to this lonely island, people had come and gone so suddenly in his life that it was hardly worth taking the time even to learn their names. Now he was here, with a roof over his head and a bed under his back, an actual sensei to teach him and a girl who didn't mind his own strangeness enough to be nice to him.

Sensei's plan to destroy the Hidden Mist Village seemed like a good idea – payback pure and simple for what they'd done and an answer to Gennosuke and the others' lives in exile.

Only now…the boy wasn't so sure.

* * *

**Kakashi**

Kakashi Hatake lounged in the shade on park bench with his long legs outstretched, completely engrossed once again in a quaint and curious volume of…well, actually it was the latest installment of Icha-Icha Paradise.

Flipping eagerly to the next black-and-white illustrated page, the jonin's eye followed along panel-to-panel until he thought he heard something then lifted his flaring, silver-maned head to listen. After a moment, the leaf-ninja decided it was only his imagination, shrugged then went back to reading.

A breeze rustled through the trees as civilians passed back and forth – the usual mid-day crowds.

The ninja's brow narrowed and again he listened closely. There it was.

"Gah…ee…en…ay," whispered a distant voice.

The jonin again returned to his reading.

"Kah…shee…zen…zay," repeated the soft wail, this time a touch closer.

Kakashi flipped a page. _Hmm,_ he considered. _That sounds like Naruto._ "Ka…shi-sensei," the genin's brassy, distinctive, all-too familiar voice drifted louder in his ears.

Turning to the next page of the story, the masked man shook his head slightly and said knowingly to himself: _This can't be good._

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto's peals cried frantically from not more than half a block away. "KAKASHI-SENSEI!" then as the boy shot past where the jonin sat in a galloping blur of orange and yellow.

The blonde stumbled to a stop, looking like he was on the verge of collapse, a nervous-breakdown or both, then staggered dazedly up to him.

The man spared his exhausted student an incurious one-eyed look over the top of his manga.

The boy was a sight! Naruto stood before him, gasping raggedly for breath, chest heaving like bellows, lean shoulders hunched as the genin leaned over and braced his palms on his knees. Sweat dribbled from his brow and flushed face; fluid frothed from his panting, open mouth. The young ninja gulped hard then tried to speak but all he got out was a raspy "Ka!" before he had to stop and gather himself.

"Ka --!" he tried again, wheezed, signaled that he needed a second, swallowed hard then began: "Ka…Kakakshi…s-sensei!" he panted. "Kakashi-sensei!"

The jonin looked at him. "Oh," he began dryly, registering mild surprise, "hello there, Naruto. Were you looking for me?"

"Kakashi-sensei," the young ninja blurted in desperation, "it's – it's Haku! You remember, Haku, Zabuza's apprentice? Well get THIS, he's --."

"Alive, yes, I know. He was here last week."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" bellowed Naruto in alarm as he clutched his bright hair in two yellow fistfuls and nearly fell over.

"Oh, that's right," observed the white-haired jonin. "You're probably just getting back and only now found out. But yes, Naruto, Haku is still alive."

The diminuative leaf-genin, beaten to the punch, paced in a wobbly circle, flopped down on the grass then buried his head in his hands. "I can't believe I missed him!" he moaned then peeked up at his sensei. "What's he been up to!? How's he doing?"

"Very well, it would seem," Kakashi assured him. "In fact, I'd say he's turned into quite a fine young man and an outstanding shinobi. Zabuza's training may have made him strong but I think that, in many ways, having to live on and find his own path has made him even stronger." Under his mask, the ninja smiled reflectively. "His master would have been quite proud of him, I think. Especially considering the way he acquitted himself against that cell of sound-ninjas."

Naruto stared at his rangy sensei, blue eyes goggled with disbelief. "THAT was him?!"

* * *

**The Guardian Spirit**

_WHY WON'T SHE DIE?! WHY?!_

The obake crouched warily atop the snow, glaring at the trespasser who stood upslope from it. Though her cape had deep slashes though it and crimson leaked along lines from her thigh and trickled down her cheek, the girl was still, most infuriatingly, alive despite all its best efforts.

_Intolerable!_ the guardian seethed. _I've slain entire gangs of armed men more easily than this: soldiers; bandits; ninja! Why is it she's able to slide away from my cuts?_

A pair of steel spines fell from its skin, reminding it again of the kunoichi's skill. Any mere mortal man pierced with needles like that the way she'd thrown them would have been immediately incapacitated. Fortunately, the _obake's_ bones shifted to intercept any intruding force well before they reached important organs, arteries or nerves! And then too, its skin seamed shut upon being sliced or punctured.

_So fling your useless needles, _the guardian derided imperiously. _They'll do you no good, for I cannot be cut or stabbed. Neither can any blow hurt me!_

"Please 'older brother'," implored the intruder, "there are so few of us left. We shouldn't fight."

The monster's eyes went wide with apoplexy. _How DARE you call me that! I am brother to no one living. I have a new family now that I would DIE rather than disappoint!_

Gathering its abundant strength, the monster leaped at the kunoichi. Long knives and curved sickles of bone sprang bloodlessly from its flesh as the guardian slashed and stabbed with the fury of a thousand asylum inmates.

But when the mist-kunoichi moved and countered, it was with the wind as a constant ally that battered her adversary with chilling gusts and blinding flurries. The trespasser could vanish one moment and rematerialize the next, dancing over the top of the snow. Her open palms and one-knuckled phoenix-eye fists meanwhile crashed like waves against the guardian's cheek, temples and lower belly, clavicle, neck and joints; her feet slammed hard into its ribs and legs, slashed across the spirit's brow and stomped through its knee.

Of course it was for naught.

For all her efforts, the young ninja only ended up watching in unmistakable apprehension as the apparition's bones bent back into their proper shape for they could not be broken!

Laughter bubbled deep within the guardian spirit, surged up then came gushing out, ringing like a claxon in the winter air. But it had to stay focused! Ninjas were deeply crafty. The best way to kill them was stay close, attacking without relent to prevent them from using their jutsu!

Grinning wide with teeth that flared alarmingly into curving tusks and saber-like fangs, the gaunt monster slashed as it had many times before, but this time its arms and bone knives flexed longer and, to the guardian's great satisfaction, cut more than just cloth.

Droplets of crimson flew through the air and spattered brightly against the snow.

* * *

**Tsunade**

_Being Hokage…_Lady Tsunade thought as she perused the next document in the pile for her to review. This one was annoyingly dense with lots of whereas' and wherefores', 'party of the first parts', etceteras, and all that.

_I once thought being Hokage would be QUITE the ego trip. Little did I know…_

_It's a lot like juggling,_ she mused and frowned, _an ever-changing number of awkwardly-balanced objects – with some heavy like bowling balls and others delicate like eggs. Some are tricky like live cats or slippery like freshly caught eels, while others can hurt you if not handled correctly like knives or flaming brands._

_And all the while you're doing this you have to keep walking…down a twisting road, uphill and down, climb winding stairways and cross raging rivers. Never is the terrain certain. And THEN, every so often, out of the blue, someone just tosses you another object and you, somehow, have to fold it into the pattern without losing track of any of the others._

The woman could almost laugh at her pitiable situation except for the knowledge that if she dropped something in this hopelessly contrived analogy…somebody DIED.

Suddenly, the door to her office flew open, almost crushing poor Shizune who was on her way out with her arms full of files and folders.

"Granny Tsunade, I need some time off!" declared Naruto in his inimitably brash, braying voice.

Tsunade made a face, scowling reflexively at the idea and more than a little put-off by the orange gremlin's abrupt entrance…not to mention the 'Granny' part.

Leaf-ninjas swore oaths to protect their villages. They didn't just get to 'go on vacation' whenever they wanted to.

The sandy-haired ninja lord was just about to cuss him out then throw him out when it crossed her mind that, though this kid was THE most immature genin she'd ever seen, he was fairly 'cause and effect' driven for the most part. And for that matter NO ONE was as eager for more missions, usually, than Naruto Uzumaki.

The Fifth Hokage frowned, leaned forward in her chair and rested her chin on her palm, certain she'd regret letting curiosity get the better of her.

"What for, Naruto?" she asked warily, mentally braced for something mind-shatteringly stupid.

"I just want," Naruto started then stopped, his bright, cerulean eyes flickering, "there's something I gotta do. There's someone I gotta SEE…in Wave Country."

Tsunade leaned back, nodded knowingly then steepled her fingers. "Ah," she replied, "Haku."

The blonde ninja looked up at her startled, then groaned: "Did EVERYBODY in Konoha get to see him but ME!?"

"Well," explained the Hokage with a clever smile, "when you're a principle actor in a blood and poison-drenched riot against a couple of dozen sound-ninja, with feathers and senbon flying and a humongous explosion going off over the city, you're bound to attract attention. Security never has been that great around here, but we're not completely incurious about those kinds of goings-on."

Naruto's eyes focused and his breath quickened. "So," he ventured, "I can go?"

Tsunade frowned, but understandingly this time.

_Haku,_ she thought. That strange boy, a killer's disciple with an angel's face, had affected Team 7 much more than the Fifth Hokage ever would have thought possible. All of Team 8 seemed to hold a high opinion of him too and, in truth, she herself owed Haku big-time for returning the stolen Uchiha canisters.

Still, and maybe it was just that she couldn't afford to be careless, Tsunade harbored a doubt that maybe Anko was right and this, this ninja, this helpful constable from Wave Country really was too good to be true.

_Anyway,_ the Hokage settled, _all that's beside the point._

The woman shook her head. "I'm sorry, Naruto," she began with genuine regret. Already, just from that, she could see it in the genin's face, the fierceness in his eyes and restless poutiness in his lips, that he was muling up for a HELL of a fight. "I think I understand how you feel, but we're short handed and I just can't spare --." The Hokage paused then, having noticed Shizune's contemplative look. "What?" Tsunade inquired of her. "Do you think he SHOULD go?"

Tsunade's assistant smiled awkwardly and Naruto shot her a pleading look, quite surprised at the hope of finding an ally in her.

"Well…I was just thinking," the demure, dark-haired kunoichi began, "there's so much going on in Wave Country – all the new construction, money pouring in, a huge influx of people, the Mist's garrison. It bears looking into. We just recently found out that a former client of ours, a civil and structural engineer named Tazuna, was promoted to site manager and oversees the whole works."

"What? Tazuna?!" Naruto blurted.

"Yes," mused Tsunade, "he's the man who enlisted us for help about a year ago against a plutocrat called Gato's assassins. I read the after-action report."

Shizune looked down at the blond genin. "You two left on good terms, didn't you, Naruto?"

"You bet!" he piped at once, eyes closing to slits as he grinned wide. "He was all sour and mean at first, but he turned out to be a really nice for an old guy."

"There it is," Shizune continued, then laid it out: "Lady Tsunade, I think Naruto, because he already knows Tazuna, could learn more from one casual conversation with him than a whole team could learn through spying in a week."

Naruto nodded briskly.

"You're not helping yourself being THAT eager," Tsunade scolded.

The blonde reassembled himself at once and stood at attention with feet together and hands pressed tight against his sides, back straight, chest out, chin up, eyes focused straight ahead.

"Eesh," the woman grumbled. "Stop it. That's even worse. It's creepy when YOU do it. Ok, Naruto, you have one week in Wave Country. But it's a MISSION, understand. Find out more about what's going on."

* * *

**The Guardian Spirit**

The vengeful wraith rejoiced in the ecstasy of blood. The bright red sight of it teased its eyes; the scent of it filled the winter air and gave proof to his unseen audience of their loyal guardian's worth.

Seizing immediately on its advantage, the obake hurled itself in joyful, transcendent fury upon the intruder who, having been sliced across her chest and shins, staggered back limply through the snow and wove away from her vengeful attacker's flurrying stabs and wild, pin-wheeling swipes.

Even as it pressed the attack, a lone, quiet voice amidst the monster's thoughts yielded the young girl credit – how she could stay calm under such peril with her hot life's blood dribbling away into the snow; how she still parried and blocked its strikes bare handed, with her jutte or with a bundle of senbon clutched in her fist; how she'd wrapped her cape around one arm so she could use it to fend off its cuts until nothing remained of the garment but blue shreds. Amazing!

This mist-kunoichi was the monster's most entertaining prey EVER! How marvelous, how novel that she could perform ninja jutsu one-handed and STILL dared to fight in-close where it was at its deadliest, even while knowing her paltry strikes were useless against it.

The girl retreated, leaping away and desperately trying to find cover, while the guardian, close on her heels ripped its way through gangs of water-clones which hardly even slowed it down.

_I will remember you,_ it promised magnanimously. _I shall place your skull somewhere significant – overlooking the ocean, perhaps._

The kunoichi fled again, found purchase atop the snow using her chakra, then darted behind a cluster of trees – a maneuver the relentless revenant found deliciously coy yet a tad pedestrian.

Snarling, with eyes wide and feral, bone claws long as broadswords sprang from its fingertips. Two powerful swipes slashed clean through bark and bole, sending forth showers of splinters.

_Really now! This is just too much, delaying the inevitable._

The guardian spirit was really close, enough to savor the girl's fear. The anticipation was almost more than it could stand. It scrambled forward, slashing, smashing and shoving the falling trees from its path and surging after the kunoichi. But rather than fleeing again, the ninja brought her hands together to form a seal.

_A jutsu?_ the monster couldn't help but laugh. _Do you think your ninja tricks can stop me now!? Do your worst_, it considered snidely then immediately regretted it as a sharp pain lanced through its midsection.

_What? What is this?!_ the guardian gasped then fell to its knees, belly afire with agony.

At once, the obake remembered all those times the ninja had struck it and where then knew the wily trespasser had infected it with her chakra which had nestled around its liver and at the base of its spine.

_Clever, clever girl to attack in such a way!_

The young stranger stood there, a comfortable ten paces away, focusing her chakra – calling out to the energy she'd transmitted into its body.

"Please, 'older brother'," the kunoichi implored in voice pitchy and breathless with desperation. "I don't want to hurt you and don't understand why you want to hurt me. This is senseless! Please…stop your attack."

Firing its willpower to resist, the guardian spirit canted its eyes toward her then raised a quivering hand. Pledging every last fiber of bone it could spare into the effort, it sent forth a shaft no thicker than a stylus with blinding speed, winding and twisting through space toward the heart of its enemy.

The monster felt its spear scrape bone against bone across her chest then pierce through her upper arm as the girl turned at the last instant, narrowly avoiding death.

The mist-ninja fell to her knees in the snow and clutched the barbed shaft with one hand while still commanding her poisonous chakra with the other.

The two, similarly situated, stared across the scant distance at each other, their lives in each others' hands – lives that both moved simultaneously to end!

Vicious talons tore at something inside the guardian spirit, transporting the monster to worlds of pain undreamt of. Its eyes rolled back blindly into its head as it grasped its side and fell over with muscles constricting and pulsing involuntarily. At the same time though, as fast as thought, the guardian commanded its bone shank to flare, blossoming forth with quills and hooks _inside_ the kunoichi's transfixed flesh then sharply yanking back.

Hearing the trespasser's anguished cry pierce the wintry air soothed it a little as the obake's spear of bone returned, the barbed tip steaming gory with blood.

Face down in the snow, the guardian grimaced and grinned in pain and determination; its furnace-hot breaths gushing plumes of white. It would not fail. It would not betray those who'd trusted so much to it! Once the blight of this trespasser's presence had been erased, then the purity of this place would be restored.

_Get up!_ the guardian urged itself, raging, _Kill her! KILL HER!_

Throwing off agonies like an unneeded coat, the monster thrust out bone stilts from its legs and arms to bring it upright, howled then launched itself at the wounded kunoichi with arms erupting into ivory lances and ribs gnashing like long, hooked teeth. But its prey had recovered too and conjured a blast of arctic wind which struck the guardian in mid-air with the crushing power of a titan's fist and sent it spinning.

Screeching loud in its frustration, the guardian fired a bolt of bone in every direction then latched on as one struck the ground then expanded within the frozen soil to anchor it. Retracting the tether, the obake pulled itself earthward and held itself firm against the ensuing gale which burned and bit with the kind of cold it had never experienced before.

Suddenly, the pressure subsided and the monster fell forward, caught itself then looked around for the kunoichi but it needn't have bothered; she stood there before it in plain sight.

The obake chuckled at first, at the hideous wound on her shoulder and the thick crimson that flowered there, soaking her vest and shirt and running down her limp, lifeless arm. But it stopped then for she had transformed somehow. Though weary and spent to the point of exhaustion, the guardian could see from the look on her face that she would never surrender her life no matter how compelling the circumstances. All the kunoichi's former calm had gone, replaced with defiant anger.

_Those eyes,_ it thought then paused, imagining it had seen them somewhere before. _One more chance,_ the guardian considered then more seriously, absorbed its bone anchors back into its body and moved to meet the ninja enemy again in battle. But the obake's limbs were tiring, its breath burned in its chest. The oppressive cold seemed to hang like heavy chains from every limb and squeeze every organ. Though it was still quite fast when it sprang, it was not quite fast enough.

As its white spear of bone homed toward the girl's bowels, the mist-shinobi drew a breath then extended her uninjured arm, pressing the edge of her palm forward in slow tension.

Again a wind as cold and fearsome as a winter storm rose against the monster but this time it was prepared. The obake smiled hideously then crossed its arms which sprouted wide, impenetrable bone shields. Its bare feet sank hooked spurs into the frozen earth and rooted it in place.

_A test of strength? Ha! You can not move ME,_ the guardian vowed though the howling, elemental fury of a typhoon lashed it. _You cannot outlast me!_

But the longer the obake weathered the storm, the colder it grew. Despite its implacable resolve, the monster began to shiver and quake, its skin feeling like it was covered in needles as the power of the trespasser's insidious technique wore away at it.

"No!" the obake croaked helplessly as its body succumbed to the onslaught in slow inevitability.

At last it gave way and was blasted back, sent spinning through a maelstrom of blinding white and pitiless cold before it fell back to earth, tumbled over the snow-blanketed ground then finally came to rest.

_Cold,_ was all the guardian could think for a moment as its numb limbs trembled uncontrollably, unable to function. Even its bones, always so plastic, so obedient to its will refused it. _So cold! How can this be? I am a creature of spirit. The flesh is but a vessel. I-I cannot be defeated. I cannot…die!_

Everything became quiet again -- quiet enough to hear the footsteps crunching softly in the snow.

As the monster stared skyward, the mist-kunoichi crept ponderously into its vision and stood over it like a trophy kill, seeming to tower from the perspective. Flakes of falling snow melted against her rosy-cheeked face, her grey eyes ablaze with fury and thin lips twisted into a regal sneer. It was then the guardian realized, though the most insignificant of details at this point, that this was not a young woman but a young man.

The blood-soaked ninja raised HIS hand skyward and concentrated his chakra, a daunting blue energy faintly visible against the overcast sky, then brought that power crashing down upon the fallen monster.

The obake's body locked. What the guardian had felt before it could at least comprehend – COLD, the kind found at the highest mountain summits in winter or in the great depths of the polar oceans, but this was far beyond that. This was the kind of cold that sages spoke of, that existed only in the vastnesses between planetary spheres.

The guardian could feel its life energy flee before it, its blood freezing to slush in its veins, its eyeballs to ice in its skull.

Its body left it then. Its senses, already shrouded in misery, failed.

_My lords, my ladies,_ the obake thought, gripped by despair. _I have failed you. I'm so sorry._

_Don't be,_ a placid voice answered.

There, on oblivion's threshold, the guardian could see so clearly in its mind the spirits of the great house gathered there all around, not to scorn but to praise.

_You've served us faithfully and well, beloved Tensai Kaguya. You have given everything you had to give. No one could ask for more._

The last clan patriarch of the Aramata took his hand, then the last lady kissed his forehead. He'd never been so moved as by the thought of accompanying them…to be by their sides in the afterlife forever.

But the delirious vision of their splendid and heavenly faces faded, replaced by the scowling mist-ninja who stood over him still with hand poised and chakra surging. The black-haired stranger's face quivered, angry tears mixing hot with melted snow as he glared down hard but then slowly lowered his hand at which the unearthly cold ceased.

_Is he,_ it occurred to Tensai, _is he NOT going to finish me?_

The victorious shinobi's expression danced, moving between realms of rage and sorrow, pain and abstraction then settled angrily upon the face of his enemy.

Tensai was too frozen and stunned even to blink as the young man suddenly and unexpectedly spat on him. Streaking droplets, a viscous outpouring of spit and blood sprayed over his pale-complexioned face like burning embers.

The stranger clutched his maimed arm, retreated a step as if to go then turned back then lashed contemptuously with the side of his foot, dashing a cascade of snow across the fallen man.

_But why? Why would you spare me?_

The ninja, oblivious to the unvoiced question, turned and hobbled away alone and wounded, trudging through the snow at first before he found his concentration again and was able to walk atop it.

For several long minutes, Tensai laid there and watched the figure go until, like a ghost, the stranger vanished into the mist and snow-veiled haze.

_He didn't kill me. How senseless._

The longer Tensai rested the more he remembered. He could see them now, the odd adoptive family he'd known that had raised him and his…his sister. "S – Sakiko," his frostbitten lips muttered fondly. "Tohma…"

_No,_ the man reconsidered, _refraining from killing someone is not senseless. Not all the time._ His teacher had tried to explain that to him before. _It is a virtue, a great virtue called 'forbearance' and it is noble._

_Noble?_ Tensai repeated to himself, thoughts seizing upon the idea.

Hadn't the stranger's gentle face seemed a little familiar; similar in some ways to those he'd guarded here? And his powers, as boundless as the sky and the sea, hadn't they seemed to flow a little too naturally to be mere jutsu?

_No!_ he thought in black dismay then shrieked, "**NO!**"

Tensai struggled, flopped and pushed his way to his knees, his unthawed body resisting every step of the way. "Please, master! Don't go!" the scion of the Kaguya clan cried as loud as he could, again and again until his throat burned with arid tingles. Even as the mocking echoes of his voice returned to him over the vast landscapes of white he knew it was no use.

Wailing his horror, the man slumped face down and wept; hands darkening with frostbite clutched pathetically at the snow and frozen earth.

How could he have been so blind, so stupid?! How could he not have realized that the only living lord of the house…_had come back!?_


	10. Snow Angels Part 2

Hi, welcome back and thanks for coming. I hope you like Chapter 10 ;)

--J

* * *

**Inari**

If the piles of books and scrolls that littered the boy's room were any indication of how much he had yet to learn, then he definitely had a long, long, LONG way to go. Inari sighed and looked up from his desk out his upper-floor window that overlooked the sea toward the vast, star-speckled horizon. He'd already read so much tonight that his dark eyes were starting to cross. It felt like his brain was so crammed full of information on so many subjects that if he sneezed, a fact would plop out and be gone forever; not quite the path to ninja glory he'd expected.

Thinking back once again as he often did to his friends from the Hidden Leaf Village, or even Haku and Zabuza for that matter, it was still hard to picture any of them with their noses buried in a book…Sakura and Haku, maybe, being the exceptions. Of course, Inari had a better picture now of just how much work AND knowledge it took to be a ninja, even to reach the lowest rank of genin. But if he was ever going to have strength like that, enough to protect his homeland and those important to him against a world teaming with dangers, then this was the path he'd have to walk.

Though Haku was always quick to point out his own inadequacy as a sensei, his youth and relative inexperience, especially with teaching, Inari was well beyond such misgivings. After everything Zabuza's disciple had been through, all he'd done for the Land of Waves and the kind of ninja he'd become, Tazuna's grandson harbored no doubt. The Demon's Apprentice would show him the way.

Inari pushed himself up tiredly, paced around a little to stretch his legs then stood before the mirror that hung on his closet door. His reflection: a skinny, black-haired kid in teal overalls worn over a long-sleeved white turtleneck, stared dumbly back. A grimace fell over both their faces. Inari turned away, mentally set himself, then proceeded through the motions of the chakra-building form Haku had taught him called 'The Eight-Section Brocade'.

Feeling his internal energies bolstered, the boy returned to the mirror determined to get one of his jutsu to work. Pressing his hands together, fingers weaving to form a seal, Inari concentrated then announced grandly: "Transform!"

Chakra flowed within the young boy's little body but when he looked up it was still his own reflection standing there. The maddening familiarity of the image in itself made his failure abundantly clear.

Inari frowned, shifted the balance of his internal energies, tried again a few more times but got no better results. He locked eyes with himself, fists balled in exasperation, then tossed his head back and groaned.

_I'll NEVER catch up to Chuuya at this rate!_

A knock at the front door downstairs drew his attention. "I GOT IT!" he bellowed to the rest of the house, grateful for the distraction, took the full flight of stairs in two bounds then was at the door in only a moment. At least there were SOME parts of his ninja training that weren't a problem.

_Who the heck could THIS be?_ Inari wondered with a little concern. It wasn't _horribly_ late, but definitely past dark and past the time Grandpa normally got visitors.

Warily the boy turned back the bolts, opened the door, gasped then lost his mind.

"NARUTO!" he pealed joyfully at the orange visitor.

The blond leaf-ninja standing outside in the porch light smiled awkwardly, his eyes narrowed to cat-like slits as he rubbed the back of his head. "Hi, Inari!" he greeted cheerily. "I hope this isn't – oof!"

Naruto grunted then laughed as the boy sprang forward and threw his arms around the genin's waist, knocking him back a few steps. Regaining his balance, the young ninja returned Inari's hug then tousled his hair. "Hehehe, wow, it's really good to see you again too, Inari."

Straightening seriously, Naruto squeezed the boy's neck and shoulders appraisingly. "Hey," he noticed, "you're really getting _strong_."

Inari giggled uncontrollably as his friend kneaded him; and Naruto, noticing the boy's ticklishness, happily persisted. "Of course," Inari managed to affirm between fits of laughter then gave the newcomer a playful shove, "I've been working out and everything!"

The two parted and looked at each other with dumb, awkward but elated smiles. Inari gasped suddenly, grabbed Naruto by the wrist with both hands then nearly ripped the older boy's arm out of the socket as he abruptly turned and ran back inside, yanking the genin after him.

"Hey, Mom!" Inari called excitedly while Naruto stumbled to a stop. "Grandpa! Look who's here!"

Tsunami poked her head out from the kitchen then hurried out. "Oh!" she cried, "Naruto, what a wonderful surprise!"

"Great to see you again too, Miss Tsunami," said Naruto as they exchanged bows.

"Well!" a gruff voice hollered. "If it aint' the Leaf Village's hyper-active short-stack."

All three looked toward where Tazuna had just entered from the back hallway. Naruto's face set reflexively into a defiant, smirking grimace at the engineer's remark but then went wide when he saw him.

Inari's grandfather's shoes were black and shiny; his pleated and belted charcoal trousers were pressed with an edge any samurai sword would envy. Though his shirt was worn half-open, revealing an expanse of clean undershirt stretched over the man's barrel chest, it was indeed a painfully-white, starched and collared button-down. And though it hung around his neck like a stole Tazuna WAS, technically by definition, also wearing a tie!

Naruto's blue eyes traveled up the man in amazement as he noted too that (except for his trademark goatee and some wicked five-o'clock shadow) he was otherwise clean-shaven, and his mane of grey hair was not only combed but tamed into a semblance of a style!

The young ninja burst out laughing, clutched his stomach then pointed at him. "Wow, old man!" he hooted. "Look at you! You sure cleaned up nice!"

Tazuna canted his chin and returned a smug smile. "Don't let the disguise fool ya."

Inari chuckled at the exchange. "Grandpa just got a big promotion at work!" he added with considerable pride.

"Eh!" grumbled Tazuna. "It's too much damn office work. Give me nuts and bolts any day."

Inari wheeled on their guest. "Naruto!" he blurted, dark eyes afire with ebullience. "You must have had all kinds of crazy stuff happen since you were here last time. You GOT to tell me all about it – all the places you got to go, all the fights and adventures and stuff!"

Naruto grinned wanly, wilting in the face of the boy's overpowering enthusiasm. "Oh, well, sure --."

"Inari," his grandfather scolded. "It's a good long way from the Hidden Leaf Village, give the poor kid a chance to sit down, rest a little and have something to eat."

"We have lots of food left over from dinner," offered Tsunami.

"Thanks," Naruto piped, brightening at once at the prospect, "that'd be great!"

* * *

**Naruto**

The blond leaf-ninja grinned eagerly as Inari and his family ushered him to the dining room table. His eyes went wide then when Tsunami set before him a feast of grilled tuna steaks, rice and steamed vegetables. It was all quite an improvement from the last time he was here when food of any sort had been hard to come by.

The fare wasn't the only thing that had changed, Naruto noticed. Though Tazuna still lived in the same dockside house, it was freshly painted on the outside and completely refinished inside complete with suites of new furniture which made it seem like a different place entirely.

The old guy really _was_ doing well!

As Naruto ate happily, Tsunami, Tazuna and Inari took turns telling him about all the things that had changed since he and Team Seven left – about how the Land of Waves had become a protectorate of Water Country, the various transitional difficulties, and all the ambitious new buildings and infrastructure projects that were under way.

All three of Naruto's hosts looked great and seemed so much happier. Of course, not living in poverty anymore and not having ninja assassins trying to kill them had to have a lot to do with that.

As his mouth was full, the blond nodded most his replies; there was so much, it was hard to keep up with. But the substance of what they said almost seemed beside the point. Just being at a table like this and having a home-cooked meal, surrounded by friends, smiles and conversation felt so nice to Naruto, so different from almost anything in his experience.

A rare, cozy feeling settled inside the young ninja.

_This is what it must be like to have a…a family,_ Naruto mused, moved by the sentiment. It was times like this that reminded the orphan of what he had, and still, missed.

With that thought came a twinge of guilt that bothered him. Although he'd come back to Wave Country for his own personal reasons, the genin was also here on a mission basically, to SPY on the man he once protected. There was a word for that, Naruto was sure, and it wasn't a nice one though he couldn't remember off the top of his head what it was.

After Naruto had cleaned his plate and the conversation fallen to a natural pause, the young ninja was more than happy to try to satisfy Inari and regale the boy's mother and grandfather with tales of his exploits. The blond ninja launched into a lively description of how he'd risen to the challenge of tough training under his bizarre and disturbingly-lecherous new sensei, the Toad Sage, Jiraiya, then his series of stunning victories against fellow leaf-ninjas Kiba Inuzuka and Neji Hyuuga during the chunin exams.

Though thrilling, especially to Inari who hung on his every word, the young shinobi's simple, dynamic prose foundered unexpectedly with the Third Hokage's death, lost focus then kind of…stalled.

Naruto looked around the table, troubled at how he'd unintentionally spoiled the mood. The boy tried to move on to happier subjects but found himself stuck momentarily in the bleak, unvoiced thought that Orochimaru had murdered that magnificent old man and nothing the entire Hidden Leaf Village could do had stopped it.

Gathering himself then starting over, the leaf-ninja picked up again and retraced some of his missions, to the Hidden Waterfall Village, to Nagi Island and the Land of Birds. But no matter where Naruto's tales of adventure began they all seemed to lead back to the one matter he was trying to avoid, or at least put off for now -- that his teammate Sasuke Uchiha had deserted the Leaf Village to become the Snake Sannin's disciple.

Saying it at last took the air out of the room and dampened Naruto's enthusiasm for saying much of anything more. As unspeakably sad as Sarutobi's death was even now, three months after the fact, memories of Sasuke evoked in Naruto a more complex and turbulent brew of sadness and anger, the sting of his friend's betrayal and his own failures. These feelings, once stirred, were not easily set aside…even for the normally light-hearted ninja.

An awkward silence fell. Nobody really knew what to say.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Tazuna sympathized at last in a paternal voice deep and earnest. "Try to keep in mind that he's young, like you. You kids just…go off like that sometimes, act on impulse and make mistakes, sometimes big ones. Sasuke definitely wouldn't be the first to make a wrong turn." The bridge-builder's brow narrowed in thought. "It's a shame though, he was a good kid though a little serious. But you shouldn't take it so hard, Naruto. There was nothing you could've done and you can't live his life FOR him."

"Yeah," agreed Naruto who tried to sound more upbeat.

"Uh, so," piped the engineer in a brave and obvious attempt to revive the flat-lining conversation, "what brings you back to Wave Country?"

Naruto's golden eyebrows knitted. "Listen," admitted the boy in a subdued voice, "I…the new Hokage sent me here to find out more about what's going on with that Mist Magistrate and all the new buildings and stuff." He looked down guiltily. "I hope you're not mad."

Tazuna nodded and frowned; his kind eyes looked up at the genin. "You saved my life, Naruto, my family's and my entire tiny country. I can't be mad at you," the grey-haired man offered. "I've always hated how your ninja villages send kids like you out to kill and die for them; or spy on people. Ha!" he laughed wearily. "Your bosses in Konoha would probably crap a diamond if they knew you just came out and told me what your mission was. But I'm not gonna sweat something as small as this.

"Naruto," Tazuna continued, putting his young guest at ease, "you're a good friend and a good person. So if YOU want to know something then I'm more than happy to tell you anything I can."

The genin gave him a relieved smile. "Thanks…old man," said Naruto in a trembling, heartfelt voice. "But there's something else too. I don't know if you know this… Actually, you probably do since _everyone else_ seems to."

"Ah," said Tazuna with a thoughtful air. "I did wonder if you'd ever come back to see Haku. Even though his master tried to kill me, he turned out to be not so bad."

"Hey," Inari gusted, "so you know he's alive too, Naruto! That's awesome!"

The blond smiled fondly. "Yeah," he explained, his mood brightening, "I nearly fell over when I got his letter 'cause I was so sure he was dead! But yeah, I HAD to come back."

Tazuna's eyes narrowed. "Naruto, did…did you only get that letter _just now?_"  
"Mm-hmm, a couple of days ago."

Inari's grandfather cursed under his breath, raised his hand then let his palm smack flat on the table. "He wrote that thing _months_ ago!" he cried disgustedly. "Sorry about that. It's my fault for not entrusting it to someone a little more reliable."

"It's ok. I'm just glad I got it!" said Naruto with a smile that made him seem much more like his usual self. "So," he ventured eagerly, "where can I find him?"

Tazuna gave his grandson a sly look and canted his head towards the boy. "Why don't you ask his _student?_"

Naruto's eyes darted toward Inari. "What! Really?! Inari, Haku's training you to be a ninja!? That's great!" he pealed then frowned with thought. "It's a LOT of work though."

"I know, I know," the boy lamented in good humor then winced as he realized: "Oh, no! Naruto, I think Haku-sensei might still be out of town right now."

"WHAT?! Awwww." the young genin yelped then hung his head. "That just figures! I missed him when he was in Konoha, NOW I'm gonna miss him here!"

Trying to sooth his friend's feelings, Inari stammered hastily: "Well, um, he…he might be back by now." The black-haired boy gave Naruto a wide, reassuring grin. "I know just who you should ask."

* * *

**Sakura**

Just after flying past a pair of mile-markers along the forested trail, the pink-haired kunoichi slowed to a stop, huffed for breath for a few moments in her damp, grey sweats then raised her arms and stretched a little before checking her time.

19:45:43! Sakura smiled, quite pleased with herself. That was the first time she'd cracked twenty minutes on the grueling steeplechase course.

Keeping herself in shape while she studied was important, for if she wanted to be even half-way decent as a medical ninja, she'd have to do much more then learn how to heal the sick and mend the wounded. She'd have to be able to keep up with any ninja in the village, perform rescue missions into dangerous territory and, if necessary, be ready to fight off any enemy that might present itself.

_And, _the girl added_, it's good stress relief; and I always study better if I get in some good exercise first._

As Sakura patted her face with a towel then took a grateful swallow of water from her canteen, she was drawn to the sight of a small white puppy who sat there waiting for her.

"Hr-ARF!"

The kunoichi startled then stared for a moment before a grin crept over her face. "Hi there, Akamaru," she greeted the doggy then looked around. "So where's Kiba? Don't tell me you've gone solo! Well," offered the ninja with a sanguine smile, "it's probably for the best. You always were the brains of the outfit."

The girl knelt down in a broad patch of sunlight that streamed through the trees and patted the puppy who wagged his tail eagerly then smiled with eyes shut in pure canine bliss.

Sakura looked around to see if anyone was watching, patted Akamaru some more, sleeked his fur back then played with him. "Who's a good boy?" she teased and batted his head this way and that, grabbing his grey ears, nose and paws, letting him bite gently at her hands, then rubbing his belly when he rolled over. "Huh? Whozagooboy? Whozagooboy?! You are! That's right! You're suchagooboy!"

Finally the girl rose, still giggling. "Sorry, Akamaru, I could play with you all day but I got a TON of lab work to do so I'd better get going or Lady Tsunade'll break me over her knee." Sakura frowned at how almost literal an idea that was then looked around. "But I wonder where Kiba went off to?"

When the kunoichi turned back, Akamaru was gone.

"Huh? That's weird," she mused to herself, turned to go then stiffened.

Kiba Inuzuka was right there with an absurdly nonchalant smirk on his face, leaning against a tree with loyal Akamaru perched atop his head.

Sakura laughed lightly at being surprised, a little embarrassed at the idea that her classmate had seen her act silly, made a face then shook her head. "My goodness, Kiba," she offered teasingly, "we're being awfully sneaky and ninja-like today. What's going on?"

The leaf-genin's wolfish eyes lifted toward her. "There's been something on my mind for over a week now," ventured Kiba in a husky, detective's voice, "about that so-called Hiroo Okame guy."

Thoughts flashed through the girl's mind. Haku hadn't exactly snuck in then snuck out unobserved, probably like he'd intended.

"See," Kiba continued cleverly and wagged his forefinger, "the first thing anyone who met him had to say was – 'I can't believe he's a mist-ninja', including me. I guess it took a little while for the obvious to sink in, that he's NOT."

Sakura gave him an uneasy frown then shut her emerald eyes, knowing where this was headed. Her choices, as they were beginning to emerge, were: either to lie to one friend and have him know it; or betray another's confidence.

"So," asked Kiba with a touch of insistence, eyebrow raised, "what's the story?"

* * *

**Mari**

Dressed in white coveralls with her head shaded by a broad, white hat and her freckled face shrouded in gauzy netting, Mari Tezuka walked across the bright meadow carrying in her lean arms a large, square cardboard box. It's one and only remarkable property was that it hummed, though for good reason, because inside were about ten-thousand bees – a captured wild colony that the girl was now intent on ensconcing in a proper hive.

Working at Mr. Hsing's apiary was one of the many odd jobs that kept her occupied. She'd started doing them at first for the extra money she could bring in but somewhere along the way the girl found she actually quite enjoyed the challenge of getting to do so many different things.

As she approached the hives, four white wooden boxes that stood like mini-monoliths amidst the green and gold grass and with roving worker-bees flitting back and forth, a young, spastic kind of voice suddenly called to her.

"Hey, Mari! Hi!"

The girl paused and peered through her veil toward the tree-line where some skinny little blond kid waved.

Her eyes narrowed. First of all: people she didn't know shouting out her name like they did annoyed her. Second: anyone who DID know her knew enough not to bother her when she was working.

"Hey, WHAT?!" she answered caustically.

"I, um, I really gotta talk to you!"

Mari blew out a breath. _I very much doubt that,_ she thought but answered: "Well I'm kinda BUSY just now as you can see."

The small stranger paused. "Oh, ok," he answered back. "I'll – I'll just wait over here 'till you're done."

The girl returned a noncommittal nod, continued on toward the one hive that was empty, made her preparations then poured the box of bees out onto a cloth the lip of which fed into the box's opening. The freed bees trouped at once toward the entrance. Though this is what they typically did, it still struck her as something almost magical.

All the while Mari worked it remained in the back of her mind that that strange kid was waiting on her. She looked off to see if he was still there. Irritatingly enough, he was.

"Look," she called out. "If it's so important, why don't you just come over here?"

The boy's head popped up. He took one look at her then at the air which was thick with bees and quickly declined, waving his hands. "Oh, no, no, that's ok," he answered in an anxious, gravelly tenor. "I'll just wait!"

Mari rolled her eyes. "Have it your way."

* * *

After finishing up, Mari made her way towards the shade, peeling off her beekeepers hat and veil as she went.

The boy who waited for her among a cluster of trees looked up eagerly at her approach then scrambled to his feet.

Mari's brow rose uncertainly as she scrutinized the little stranger – his dandelion yellow hair, dark grey t-shirt and orange pants.

_Orange pants?_ she wondered at his fashion sense but otherwise didn't know what to make of him other than he seemed a bit too well-kept to be a vagrant.

"So," Mari ventured uncertainly, wondering what on earth this could be about. "What, uh, what can I do for ya?"

The blond smiled, "I'm looking for, um," his startlingly-brilliant blue eyes lifted in thought, "Hiroo."

"Oh," said Mari, slightly taken-aback. That was actually a far better reason than she'd expected. "Well, he's off the island right now, you know, doing some ninja crap."

"Oh," muttered the boy in aching sadness. "Do you," he ventured in a barely-audible whisper, "do you know if he'll be back soon?"

Mari shrugged, surprised at how hard he'd taken the news. "Yeah," the girl answered reluctantly, not quite sure how much of her boyfriend's business she should blab to a total stranger, "he should be back tomorrow."

"Oh, ok," the boy chimed a bit more brightly. "I'll just check back then."

Mari nodded, affirming that that was a good plan. Her dark eyes narrowed then and she probed cleverly: "I'll let him know you're looking for him when I see him."

The kid's expression froze, lost in his own world.

"Soooooooo," the girl continued in a subtly impatient drone once it was clear that he needed a little more prodding, "what's your name?"

"OH!" the boy laughed then broke into an awkward smile. "Sorry, I forgot – I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"Naruto --?" Mari stopped. "What, you mean like the Great Naruto Bridge Naruto? THAT Naruto?"

"Uh, yeah, that's me!" answered the young stranger with sheepish pride.

Mari grimaced and crossed her arms. _Oh, please!_ she thought, sour with disbelief. _YOU can't be Naruto, Haku told me all about the guy and you don't look anything like him. Haku said Naruto was, uh, short…skinny…blond…blue eyes._

She looked at Naruto again, ticked off the list but remained only half-convinced._ Well,_ the girl allowed,_ you're still nothing like what I THOUGHT you'd look like!_

"Alright then," Mari conceded half-heartedly, "well, I'll be sure to tell him."

"Thanks, thanks a lot!" Naruto piped, ran off, ran back, gave her a giant, cheshire-cat smile then added: "oh, and it's really nice to meet you, Mari!"

After the kid had gone Mari stared after him not believing HE could be a ninja and wondering, if that really was THE Naruto Uzumaki, what his sudden reappearance might mean.

* * *

Two days later, just after breakfast, Mari went back to her room to rest awhile longer before school started later that morning.

One of the policies Magistrate Hirai had instituted was compulsory education for anyone under the age of seventeen and available education for everyone else. Since there wasn't any one building suitable, classes were held on literacy, the sciences, mathematics, the arts and vocations in various places throughout the city, from the docks, the lobbies of public buildings, parks and clearings to people's porches and living rooms. Instructors were paid from Hirai's seemingly inexhaustible coffers.

Gazing at the ceiling from her bed, Mari played absently with the necklace Haku had given her from his trip to Konohagakure – a jade ring carved with characters. The ninja had explained that he'd originally bought her flowers but then got distracted and lost track of them somewhere along the way…long story.

_Another fight,_ the girl considered with a frown, having figured that part out by reading between the lines, but sighed and remembered that it kind of went with the territory.

Haku was, after all, not a fisherman, farmer or construction worker anymore. Mari had known from the start that he was a ninja – a dangerous job that he happened to be pretty good at from what she'd seen. And if she really had some kind of major problem with that then she should have fallen for someone else.

As much sense as all that made it didn't help Mari worry any less about the inherent hazards of Haku's profession and that he was overdue getting back from Kori no Hana Island.

_Don't get all worked up over nothing,_ the girl warned herself. _Where Haku went is a good three days by boat away anyway, so being a day late doesn't mean anything._

Naruto had come by again too, right when Mari had been in the middle of trying to sandblast off a stubborn patch of old paint that clung to the hull of her neighbor's dry-docked boat. Agitated at first by the intrusive kid, even she had to admit feeling sorry for having to send him away disappointed again. It was like…like kicking a blue-eyed puppy or something.

_I can't believe THAT kid's the big hero from the first battle at the bridge! I know Haku doesn't exactly look tough either, but SHEESH!_

Closing her eyes and resting her head on her pillow, Mari contemplated Haku's absence in the strange silence of her usually crowded and noisy house. Her brothers must have gone to their jobs or classes already, leaving her the rare gift of a few moments of peace and quite that almost lulled her back to sleep. But then a whispering sound tickled in her ears – the faintly audible rush of water flowing through the plumbing, and her dark eyes snapped open.

_Haku's back!_ she realized, for he was the only one in the house capable of being _this _quiet.

The girl's dad and brothers stomped around like so many rhinoceroses (rhinocer-I?). And though you'd assume any normal person could get a glass of water and wash their face and hands without it sounding like a hundred trash-cans bouncing down the stairs, you'd be wrong!

Mari restrained herself from springing out of bed, deciding instead to give the returning traveler a chance to settle in first. One valuable lesson she'd picked up over her fifteen years, the entirety of her young life, of sharing a house with so many males is that they sucked at shifting mental gears quickly. Attempting conversation with any of them right when they got back from doing something was a painful waste of time.

After about twenty minutes, the girl made her way downstairs to the basement Haku still rented from her parents. The place was so much more habitable now cleaned up, with Uncle Maceo's stuff moved out and some Spartan furnishings moved in.

Haku himself lay wide-awake on the made bed, wearing her older brother's cast-off work khakis and hooded grey sweatshirt, resting his head on his hands. The young ninja glanced over as Mari came down then rose at once, swept towards her and took her in his arms.

_Oh!_ Mari started a little then returned his embrace, nestled her head against his sloped shoulder and listened to the gentle whisper of his breath.

Haku always was affectionate with her but it was different this time, longing, even desperate. The realization struck her as awesome in a way, thrilling and romantic to be _needed_ like this by the boy she loved, but at the same time daunting too. As she settled against Haku, feeling his warmth and surprising strength, Mari could tell that he'd been to the infirmary.

Lady Hirai's medical ninja used a peculiar unguent that helped somehow in the healing of serious wounds. It had an earthy scent, mildly spicy – really it would've made for a decent cologne except for that slightly vinegary kick right at the end.

Inferring what must have happened to explain all of this drove the thousand questions Mari wanted to ask from her mind – all but one.

"Are you alright," Mari whispered in earnest against the basement's quiet.

The teenager softened his grip, ran a long-fingered hand along her freckled cheek then tenderly kissed her. "Much better now," he quipped with a romantic, theatrical air but the tenor seemed threadbare.

Taking one of the chairs, Mari sat then leaned forward with concern. "What happened?"

Haku paced randomly for a moment then picked up the cracked, guilt-edged porcelain saucer Mari had discovered at his gravesite and held it out. "This," he began in his low and lilting, somewhat feminine voice, indicating the design painted on it, "is the crest of a once-powerful ninja clan called the Aramata."

"Did you find out anything about them on Kori no Hana Island?"

The black-haired teenager chuckled without humor then sighed. "It was like," he recounted, looked back at her confidingly then shook his head with a tired smile, "it was like one of those old monster movies where the intrepid inspector visits the remote peasant village searching for answers, but all the people there give him are fearful looks and vague, cryptic statements." Haku sat down on his bed. "Nobody living there now was around when the Aramata owned the island, but they _were_ able to direct me toward the ruins of their castle." His grey eyes flicked up. "And warn me that it was _haunted_."

"What, _seriously_?" Mari raised an eyebrow, saw the young constable's expression then raised the other one too. "Was it?"

"Yes," he answered. "Not by any kind of demon or ghost, but by a man."

"Whaaaaaaat?!"

Haku nodded and gave her a sardonic look, stroking strands of silken hair from his face. "I can't criticize those villagers though; it wasn't a normal man. He was a Kaguya and had their clan's kekkei-genkai." Before Mari could ask what all that meant, the ninja explained: "he could manipulate his bones and project them from his body to form knives, swords and spears."

The girl made a face. "Ew," she commented. "I'm guessing he wasn't happy to see you."

"That would be an understatement."

Mari considered the implications. "So, did you…I mean, y'know," she ventured, her gaze dropping away.

"Kill him?" Haku shook his head. "No. I wanted to. I can't remember ever being so angry." The teenager shut his grey eyes then continued, rushing uncharacteristically to explain: "He just kept coming after me. I tried to reason with him but nothing I said made any difference. I'm not even sure he could understand speech. Looking back, I think he must have been out there quite awhile by himself…alone. I think he must have lost his mind."

Mari nodded and waited for the former Demon's Apprentice to continue.

"Mari, I'm not sure how much I should tell you and how much I should spare. I've never had…I've never had someone like _you_ in my life," said Haku in a delicate, apprehensive tone. "And I confess that, for concern over your feelings, that I'm often inclined to withhold the details when they are unpleasant. But the whole truth is that this man very nearly killed me. As it was, it was all the garrison's medical ninja corps could do that let me keep my right arm.

"When I was finally able to beat the Kaguya," he went on, "I wanted desperately to kill him – to punish him with death for what he'd done to me, for attacking with such fury without any provocation. I know you might not understand that given how reserved I am by nature, but sometimes the emotional effects of violence are greater than even I can contain." With that, Haku wrung his hands and fell silent.

The girl looked back at him. Though she'd known the shinobi for such a long time, eight months, so many things about Haku still struck her as utterly unfathomable.

"I don't really know what I should say," said Mari. It was at the same time an admission and an allegation. "But yeah," she ended up conceding, "I'm pretty sure if someone tried to chop off my arm I'd be mad enough to kill them." The girl looked up inquisitively. "So what stopped you?"

Haku shrugged. "I've killed before, Mari, as you know, but all those times it was either because I had to to preserve my own life, the lives of others, or because my master Zabuza wished it. This time, if I had killed the Kaguya it would have been only because I'd chosen to…out of spite, out of revenge. It didn't seem," the ninja paused, searching for the right way to put it, "appropriate."

The girl sighed. Trying to understand even some of the most basic things of a ninja's life was almost impossible sometimes. "Well, I'm glad you're back now and safe. That's all I really care about," she allowed frankly at which Haku looked up with a relieved smile. "Were you able to find out anything about your family?"

"There was nothing there but ruins," the teenager answered in clear disappointment. "It could very well have been the stronghold of a ninja clan but I couldn't find anything that would lead me to think that I'm descended from them."

"Did you feel any, well, I don't know, any _vibes_ or anything?" she half-joked.

Haku shook his head and chuckled at the idea. "Not really. Though I did wonder, if I was part of that clan, if I would or should feel something, being at my ancestral home." The ninja's face grew pensive. "One thing I did discover, whether it was Kirigakure or Water Country Daimyo that did it, was that the forces that destroyed Aramata Castle were armed with forbidden weapons."

"Forbidden weapons?" inquired Mari, not liking the sound of it. "Like what?"

"As you know, certain technologies are limited or banned by treaty."

The girl hummed sagely. "I remember – that whole dust-up over all the heavy equipment the contractors are using for the construction."

Haku nodded. "The only reason they're still allowed here is through a temporary legal waiver authored at the highest levels of Water Country. But as you can imagine the most stringent limitations are, and have always been, on weapons."

"So what kind of weapons are you talking about?"

The grey-eyed ninja thought for a moment. "You remember the fireworks display they had when they reopened the Great Naruto Bridge?"

Mari's eyes widened then as she remembered something unrelated. "Uh, sure."

"Skyrockets have been around since well before the hidden villages. Used for fireworks they remain perfectly legal. However, the same principles used for them translate, without much modification necessary, into the creation of weapons easily capable of destroying a castle…or even an entire city."

The girl sucked in her lips. "So whoever killed off the Aramata must've wanted them dead pretty bad."

The young constable closed his eyes. "They were willing to risk war with the other elemental countries; face their combined wrath. That's what the penalty would be for such a blatant treaty violation."

Mari frowned and couldn't help but shake her head. It kind of figured that anything her shinobi boyfriend got into would turn out to be complicated.

"Maybe it's better to just," the girl ventured in a slow, wishful thinking, "let the past stay in the past."

"You're probably right," Haku sighed. "There doesn't seem to be much there for me." The teenager shot Mari a welcome smirk. "Though I have to say -- 'Haku Aramata' sounds a touch more lyrical than 'Hiroo Okame'."

"Hey!" the girl protested, brow narrowing fiercely as she rose to the bait. "I was really on the spot when I made up that name! I had to come up with something quick!"

The ninja laughed then held up his hands. "Ok, ok," he snickered softly then slowly fell quiet. "Still, it would have been nice to have an answer – to know the truth of where I came from. All those years I was with Zabuza, it never seemed important." Haku looked off pensively. "But I wonder sometimes too how long I can continue under an assumed name. Though Haku is dead according to the public record, kind of a lot of people know the truth about me."

The ninja's words fell over Mari like a pall. Haku had a point.

After Gato's death (and not a moment too soon!) at the first battle at the bridge then Juri Chono's at the second, it had seemed like everything was going to be so wonderful – a fairytale future free of care and full of promise that would make all the previous years of misery seem like nothing more than a fading nightmare.

But real life was rarely so obliging. Things were changing in Wave Country in ways that were at the same time astonishing and troubling; the scale, the almost frantic pace! It was hard to tell if the new powers asserting themselves in Gato's absence were any more altruistic. But either way, they had drawn the attention of neighboring Water Country…and the Village Hidden in the Mist.

Mari shoved the thoughts aside. None of them at all succeeded in dissuading her from the vision of the future she wanted or the person she wanted in it. When it came down to it, everybody's life was tenuous and uncertain, so what?

"I know you ninja guys have to be prepared for the worst. And I guess some high-up mist-ninja could find out who you are, but then-again it might NOT happen too," ventured Mari hopefully. "We're a long way from Kirigakure no Sato, and there're so many new people living here now that you pretty much have to take it for granted that they are who they say they are. Everybody's SURE you're dead, including the ANBU; they even have a body or, y'know, the dehydrated remains of one. Plus you got Lady Hirai on your side and she's the freakin' _magistrate_."

Haku rubbed his chin, having to agree that there were in fact quite a few things that stood in his favor.

"Look," Mari continued surely, "the longer it goes the more people forget about Zabuza and Haku. Things just move too fast around here to be looking back."

The two shared a comforting smile then reached out and held each other's hands.

"Oh!" Mari piped then shot to her feet. "I got some news that'll make you feel better – BIG news! A friend of yours just showed up looking for you."

Haku's eyes rose, quite perplexed. "A friend?" he wondered. "Who?"

"Naruto! That's right," the girl exulted in a merry voice, "he came around _twice_ while you were gone. He _really _wants to see you."

The ninja leaned forward on his knees, his face dropping into an inscrutable expression.

Mari startled a little then looked at him askance. "What's all _that_ about? I thought you'd be happy."

Haku shrugged and said nothing.

"I don't get it." The girl straightened and tapped her cheek with a finger. "From the way HE acted it was like you were his long, lost brother or something; the only friend he ever HAD."

The teenager sat up straight and rested his hands on his lap. "I think Naruto's like that all the time. He's gregarious by nature."

Moments passed; the silence thickening like stew.

"Soooooo," Mari ventured uncertainly at last, "you ARE going to go see him, right?"

"It's a small village," Haku answered obliquely. "We're bound to run into each other at some point perhaps."

The girl frowned then bit her lip in thought at this unexpected turn. "Don't you _want _to talk to him?"

"I don't see why. After all, I've already said to him everything I had to say."

Mari stared for a moment, completely befuddled, before it occurred to her: "You're mad because he didn't answer your letter."

"I'm not mad," answered Haku in baseline tone, "but it really doesn't matter either way."

The girl paced one way then the other. "I think it matters to Naruto. The little guy came all the way from the Hidden Leaf Village just to see you. Look," she attempted to explain, "he's a ninja, so he's probably always going off on missions, or training, or in the hospital healing up after getting stabbed half to death by some bone-using guy or whatnot, just like you, right?"

Haku leveled a look at her.

"Hey, I'm NOT making excuses for him. 'Just saying that there could be a reason why you didn't hear back from him before now."

The teenager frowned.

"Just go talk to him."

Haku looked away unconvinced.

Mari paced over, sat down next to the shinobi, slid close and put her arm around him. "He's buggin' me at work," she intoned with playful seriousness. "You know I can't have that. Promise me you'll talk to him, just to say 'hi' at least."

Haku rested his head on hers then skipped ahead to the part where he surrendered. "I will talk to him."

Mari rose. "Good," she chimed. "Now, all because of you I'm going to have to RUN to make it to class!"

As the girl headed up the stairs she slowly drew to a stop and said. "One thing; I don't want to start anything, but did that little blond _shrimp_ really beat you up?"

Haku's calm, grey eyes lifted at the question. He grinned tightly but offered in plain honesty, "Yes…he really did."

"I just can't see that," said Mari who vigorously shook her head. "You musta slipped on a banana peel or got struck by lightning or something."

Haku, doe-eyed, smiled sheepishly, held out his hands then let them fall.

* * *

**Haku**

Once Mari had gone, Haku lay back down in bed more or less resolved to stay there despite his promise. He was tired from his travels and hospital stay, still unsettled over his fight with that vicious Kaguya survivor and not anywhere close to being able to handle whatever changes Naruto was capable of bringing.

The ninja squeezed the bridge of his nose. It was probably unfair to assign the leaf-ninja a larger role than he'd really played in the genesis of those fateful events but still…whenever Haku thought back to that first battle at the bridge it was Naruto he remembered most, more than Gato who'd paid for Tazuna's assassination, more than Zabuza who'd shamefully accepted, or even Kakashi who'd come so close to killing him.

"Naruto," he muttered, closed his eyes and saw once again the face of the young ninja who'd seemed to accept him with such an open heart; whose intensely-emotional, gut-wrenching eulogy had moved even hard-hearted Zabuza to tears.

At the same time though, the blond ninja had in part wrought the death of Haku's beloved master and destroyed his former life. And there was no doubt, none whatsoever, that of all the leaf shinobi who'd guarded Tazuna, Naruto had been the stone that moved the balance.

Blowing out a breath after many long minutes of consideration, Haku rose, paced upstairs reluctantly then headed out the front door in search of the so-called number-one, knuckle-headed hyperactive leaf-ninja, Naruto Uzumaki.

* * *

That he found him the very first place he looked unsettled Haku, striking him as a twisted sort of providence. But really, the ninja had never even thought to look anywhere else for Naruto than the last place he'd seen him – in the middle of the reconstructed bridge that carried his name.

But there he was, blond as a sunflower, resting his arms atop the concrete guard-wall and looking out over the calm channel's shimmering cerulean waters, with a look of distant contemplation Haku hadn't thought him capable. Without his orange outfit and blue hitai-ate, he seemed so different anyway, wearing instead some baggy grey pants and a cream-colored t-shirt which carried the abstracted flame-like sigil for Fire Country on the sleeve.

Haku let out a breath then rolled his eyes at how awkward and discomfited he felt at seeing him again. Not even with that vengeful Kaguya bearing down on him bristling with bone-razors had he felt so unsure.

_All you have to do is say hello and ask a couple of conversational questions,_ he proposed uneasily as the ocean breeze stirred through his hair and hand-me-down clothes, _then you will have fulfilled your promise. That's all you really have to do._

The ninja approached Naruto hesitantly, having no clue at all how he'd react. He opened his mouth to speak but what he'd planned to say suddenly left him.

"I'm sorry, sir," Haku commanded politely instead in his best 'constable's' voice of authority, "there's no loitering on the bridge."

Naruto's head swiveled to give him a defiant look before his bright, sapphire eyes widened with recognition and a fond smile spread over his face. "Hey!" he piped raggedly then laughed. "What, no DRESS?"

Haku's brow rose at the unexpected question then settled. "Maybe next time," he reposted wryly, "but only if you're good."

Naruto's surprised, happy expression suddenly went cross. "Hey," he barked, "what gives?!"

Haku stared at him confused then shook his head. "What gives…about what?"

"FIRST I get your letter telling me you're alive so I go out and tell Sakura but SHE already knew!"

Haku nodded weakly in agreement, a little disconcerted. "Uh, yes, I happened to run --."

"THEN I told Kakashi-sensei 'cause, of COURSE, I knew he'd feel a lot better knowing that he didn't really kill you, but HE already knew too!"

Again Haku nodded.

"So THEN I ask Granny Tsunade for a few days off so I can see you and SHE already knew!"

Haku's face screwed in thought. "I suppose it stands to reason that Kakashi would tell her, especially after --."

"Did EVERYONE in Konoha get to see you but ME?!" fumed Naruto with a wild gesture.

Haku puzzled for a moment. "Not _everyone_," he allowed, realizing now that though he'd written that letter to Naruto months ago, the genin had only just received it in the last few days AFTER his visit to the Leaf Village. "I met Rock Lee, an interesting character to be sure," he reported, "Izumo and Kotetsu, Anko…Sakura, Kakashi and Lady Tsunade as you mentioned, Ino, Kiba and Akamaru, Hinata, Shino, Neji, Ten-ten, Shikamaru, Chouji…oh, and Pakkun."

Naruto glared at him, his countenance sour as curdled milk, blond brow furrowed, blue eyes intense and narrowed to slits. Yet despite all that, despite anything, despite everything, Haku began to grasp that this strange, peach-colored, whisker-marked face really was…the face of a friend!

The former Demon's Apprentice's heart lifted with joy as all the doubts about the young ninja left him. The black-haired teenager studied the leaf-genin's pinched and choleric, constipated-looking expression for a moment then almost hurt something trying not to laugh. He didn't at all want to hurt Naruto's feelings, quite the opposite! But there was something so _funny_ about the blonde's consternation that Haku couldn't help it and had to turn away, shoulders quivering, lips pressed shut.

"Hey, wait!" cried Naruto in a worried tone. "Where're you going?!"

Haku gulped hard then composed himself. "Come on, Naruto," he answered in a voice quaking with laughter. "Since you've come all this way, I might as well show you around."

A smile as big and bright as the sun lit the yellow-haired ninja's face as he ran up beside Haku, put his arm around the slender ninja and gave him a big, bracing, affectionate squeeze.

* * *

Ok, so what do y'all think? Is ok?

FYI, I'm borrowing the concept of 'forbidden weapons' from **top**'s story The Uprising.

Thanks for reading! XD

'till next time!

--Jonohex.


	11. Snow Angels Part 3

**Sakiko**

"Gennosuke, wait for me!" the girl with the long, white hair called to the small, slender child who walked down the well-worn path bounded by scrub forest that lead out from the village. Under a cloudless sky of blazing blue she raced to catch up with him, her sandaled feet rustling through the dry grass.

The lusterless, curly lavender-haired boy shrank a little as she fell in beside him. "Hi, Sakiko," he muttered in a distant voice.

The girl caught her breath and winced slightly from the sudden exertion. Though ninja-trained and naturally quite strong from her Kaguya heritage, she'd been up since before dawn toiling in the fields and tending to the livestock that helped feed their communal enclave – work enough to tire just about anyone.

"You ok?" asked Gennosuke who noticed with an upward glance -- a veritable outpouring of compassion coming from him.

"Yes, just a bit sore from practice, that's all."

The boy really wasn't fit for much in the way of hard labor and thus had been excused from farm duties. He wasn't very strong, tired easily and almost melted beneath the rays of the tiny island's unrelenting sun. Sakiko didn't want to remind him of that though she suspected that Gennosuke could see through her well-intentioned lie. For a little kid, he was uncommonly perspicacious.

"So where is it you're going?" she inquired with a casual lilt.

"The bluffs."

"You like that place, don't you. I've seen you up there from time to time, looking out over the ocean."

"Mmm-hmmm, it helps me think."

The Kaguya scion cast him a wry look. "You think too much," she put forth half-teasingly, "you ought to spend more time training."

"I know," answered Gennosuke, shifting with discomfort, "but I'm no good at it."

Sakiko's pale brows rose at her fellow ninja aspirant's surprising candor, and couldn't help but feel a little impressed by it.

"It takes time," she mused in sympathy then made an effort to be helpful: "Besides, tai-jutsu is only one facet of the shinobi's art. There're nin and gen-jutsu too which Tohma-sensei says you have a natural aptitude for. And don't forget your Serizawa bloodline. Once that manifests fully --."

"I don't think it's that kind of gift," Gennosuke broke in glumly, "one that's any _good_."

The girl frowned, saddened by her younger companion's hasty conclusion.

Since Gennosuke had come to the enclave, steered by Tohma-sensei's factors scattered throughout Water Country, Sakiko had presumed that there was little more to the boy's personality than the little-kid petulance that usually poured from him like steam from a roiling kettle. Only now that they'd started communicating on a level slightly more advanced than a habitual swapping of insults did she find that he too bore the scars that came from having grown up under hard circumstances.

"I don't know," Sakiko offered wistfully, "I think being able to project your consciousness sounds, well…_delightful_."

The boy's withering sideways glance made her feel like she'd said something unpardonably stupid. "I'd trade YOU any day," said Gennosuke, whose rust-colored eyes swiveled back to stare straight ahead.

As cormorants circled above them, drifting in the hot, coastal wind, Sakiko expressed a sigh. "Being descended from the Kaguya is not without its difficulties."

The girl left it at that, not wanting to say too much more for her own sake more than his. She remembered all too well sensei's sober discussion with her of a future fraught with potential medical difficulties arising from her genetic heritage…perhaps even madness. Tensai, if anything, was proof enough of that.

_No, Gennosuke,_ thought Sakiko, you would not want to trade with me no matter how great and terrible you think my shikotsumyaku powers of bone manipulation are; not for anything in the world.

"Have you," she added, changing the subject, "have you told Tohma-sensei about your dreams yet?"

"Uhn-uh," Gennosuke answered at which Sakiko shot him a look.

"Why ever not?"

The boy with the pale, purple hair shrugged.

"Gennosuke," she advised insistently, "you really should. Being who you are, it could be important."

A sour grimace crossed his young face.

"Lord Tsujita will be leaving for Kirigakure soon. You'll HAVE to tell sensei before then," she explained and added firmly: "If YOU don't, I will!"

"NO!" yelped Gennosuke defensively, jumping like a startled cat. He then reigned himself back and offered in quiet frustration, "Don't do that, Sakiko. Sensei has his heart set on this and besides, it was only a dumb dream."

"But you don't really know, do you." Sakiko shook her head in admonition. "Don't tell me you've forgotten why we're all living together, trapped on this barely habitable little scrap of an island, descendants of the Tsujita, Kaguya, Nikai and you, a Serizawa?" The girl looked off into the forest of short, gnarled trees whose stubborn, fan-like roots clutched the rocky terrain like flexed fingers. Just the bleak sight of them, so familiar she could have painted the scene blindfolded, made her cringe inside and yearn for a bigger, more beautiful world. "You of all people," Sakiko continued, "should appreciate how real and potent all our abilities are, so much so that an entire country hated us enough to hunt us down just for having them.

_"Well?"_ she added emphatically when her younger companion didn't answer.

Sakiko looked down at Gennosuke, her expression cross, but he wasn't paying attention. The boy had suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, mouth agape and reddish-brown eyes wide with shock.

The girl quickly turned to follow her classmate's frozen gaze then shrieked at the sight of the ghastly, man-like monster that had emerged from the winding, rugged path before them.

Matted, grey hair hung in creeper-like draperies over a haunted and hollow pale face from which bloodshot eyes blazed. The apparition's back was hunched; it's skin sallow and clinging to a skeletal frame. Portions of its flesh – its hands, feet, ears and nose were blackened with leprous rot, decayed enough here and there to let through harrowing glimpses of glistening, white bone.

The girl quaked, paralyzed with fright, before her training and the fierceness of her bloodline asserted itself and she dropped into a fighting stance. Daggers of bone, razor-edged and stronger than steel, sprang from the heels of her hands – all this an instant before she recognized just who this ghastly visitor was.

"T-Tensai?" Sakiko stammered in disbelief, blinked then stared for long moments as time itself seemed to crawl to a stop. The girl's weapons retreated back beneath her pale skin then she staggered forward a step. "Brother!?"

Gennosuke glanced frantically back and forth between the two of them then launched himself at Sakiko in an attempted tackle but misjudged. His face thudded off the girl's waist and hips and the boy ended up on the ground clutching tightly around her leg.

"Gennosuke!" snapped Sakiko as she squirmed in his unimpressive grip. "What are you _doing?!_"

"Stay away from him! Your brother's bat sh-t crazy; he could KILL you!" the boy screeched in a voice pitched with emotion.

Sakiko shoved him off then glared, thrusting a hostile finger at him. "I'm GOING! And don't you dare try to stop me!" she declared angrily, stalked away then went to her brother.

The white-haired girl slowed as she drew closer to the unexpected visitor, her resolve fading into apprehension before her sibling's gruesome visage coupled with Gennosuke's warning.

_It's…it's been months!_ she remembered vividly, and that even then her elder's sanity had hung by a very thin thread.

Just the sight of him was enough to bring a lump to her throat – that this…this _creature_, this chilling vision could be her own brother!

"Tensai?" Sakiko greeted with quiet, tentative hope, forced herself to look closer into that once familiar and beloved face and was at last rewarded with a blessed glimmer of recognition.

"Tensai," she sang softly then took him in her arms and cried into his boney chest: "Heaven and Earth! LOOK at you. Just LOOK at you! What have you DONE to yourself?"

The figure, her brother, slowly encircled her in his arms and Sakiko could feel just how weak he had become despite his frightening appearance. "Sister," he whispered in a croaking voice that sounded every bit as sepulchral as he looked. "I'm so sorry for making you worry for me. But please, you must take me at once to Tohma-sensei. I…I've done something terrible."

The girl shuddered, not wanting to let her imagination roam where a cryptic statement like that might lead, not wanting to do with any truth that would spoil this reunion. She clutched him even closer.

"Sakiko, listen," said Tensai with a quiet intensity that made her listen, "I've discovered something – the Aramata clan…has a living heir!"

* * *

**Haku**

Not having much experience at all in entertaining friends, Haku did the best he could and took Naruto on a tour of the Land of Waves which had undergone an almost unimaginable transformation since the leaf-genin had been here last.

The construction that fanned out from the bridge that carried the blond leaf-ninja's name was impressive as an attraction in its own right, employing thousands of workers throughout dozens of trades. The old hovels, derelict squats and abandoned buildings of sun-baked wooden planks and sheet metal roofs splotched with rust had all been cleared away. Taking their stead stood prouder structures of reinforced masonry, pre-cast or aerated concrete panels clad with handsome brick and stone. Some few were much bolder architectural expressions with steel frames that reached up and out like sculptors' fantasies, expansive glass walls, or tantalizingly heroic spans that would, when complete, be roofed by hyperbolically-curved canopies of thin-shelled concrete.

Naruto looked around in awe. He'd never seen so much activity anywhere, or so much equipment -- entire fleets of growling, smoke-gusting dump trucks, flatbeds and concrete mixers to loaders, graders and back-hoes, all of which were regulated to near non-existence within the borders of Fire Country…or anywhere else he'd visited for that matter!

Haku guided his guest into a cage-framed elevator that whirled them up to the top of one of the tower cranes which afforded a breathtaking view of the new city taking shape below. From there, they toured the more interesting and scenic parts of the island – the forests and rocky high grounds, to an old factory complex which lay broken apart and eerily half-submerged into the earth as the result of a mist-ANBU assault.

After that, Haku took Naruto snorkeling in the semi-tropical island's clear, warm waters that were home to vast varieties of colorful fish and fanciful corals, where they spent most of the day.

As the sun set, and at Naruto's loud and insistent urging, the two then hit the amusement halls – hasty and temporary things of gaudily-painted plywood and canvas where crowds gathered, lights flashed and music blared. The two ninjas played pachinko and foosball. Though Haku succeeded in steering his hyperactive guest away from the dice games and three-card Monte dealers, they got hustled badly at billiards but then more than made up the losses with a few games of _darts_. After winning several rounds and dispensing easily with all challengers, Haku ended up drawing quite an audience with a few captivating trick shots: blindfolded; over-the-shoulder-behind-the-back; from a two-fingered handstand; then, with his back to the target, tossing the dart over his head before kicking it with the sole of his foot and sending the missile spinning into the bulls-eye, dead center.

For whatever reason, Naruto was _desperate_ that they stay a little later for a few rounds of karaoke where Haku's flat contralto did absolutely nothing to improve Naruto's gravelly tenor – two bad singing voices made worse by the attempt at harmony. The pair got booed out of the building.

* * *

Getting on into well after dark, Haku and Naruto walked down the thinning Wave Country streets. The taller ninja appeared thoughtful while his blond companion grinned ear to ear, holding in both hands his gama-chan money pouch which was so fat from the night's winnings that the poor little frog couldn't even close its wide mouth anymore.

"Hehehe!" exulted Naruto with an ear-to-ear grin; pleased to the point of bursting. "That was FUN!" he gushed then quickly added: "but is there anyplace to eat around here, I'm STARVING. See?" The blond yanked up his cream-colored t-shirt to show ribs.

Haku chuckled with surprise at his companion's quirky, inimitable expressiveness then cast a look around. It was only the middle part of the evening but already things were closing up.

"What's WITH this place?" asked Naruto in annoyance, piercing blue eyes narrowing critically. "Konoha isn't exactly a party town either, but even IT stays open later than this!"

"Shhh," Haku cautioned him gently. "Be careful. There's no reason leaf-ninja can't be here but you still don't want to announce it with so many irritable mist-ninja around."

"Oh! Right," agreed the blond in a secretive tone.

"Anyway, to answer your question, most of the work crews start before dawn so the restaurants don't stay open very late. Oh," the black-haired teenager's face lit, "I do know one place we could try as a last resort."

Haku lead his hungry guest around the edge of the new construction, through an angular maze of temporary 'safety corridors' hammered together from plywood and orange fencing, to a old waterfront warehouse from which savory cooking aromas wafted.

Though it hardly seemed inviting, the former Demon's Apprentice guided a puzzled Naruto through a loading dock, along aisle-ways stockpiled with dry beans, rice and canned goods stored in palettes stacked two stories high, then followed the scents to an expansive commercial kitchen located in the back corner partitioned by sheet plastic.

After a few words with one of the staff, Haku took Naruto up some wooden stairs to a mezzanine where a few small, rough-cut tables and folding chairs used apparently by employees during their breaks sat.

"O…kay," the blond began uncertainly as he settled in, looking around curiously at the thick-membered wooden trusses above then the sacks of dry goods and sundry personal possessions, "so what's THIS place?"

Haku nodded, understanding the young leaf-ninja's misgivings. "The Double Harmony Noodle Franchise prepares all its food here," he reported diligently. "At lunch time and after work around the construction sites you can't turn around without running into one of their carts; it's quite an enterprise. Anyway, they close late and there's almost always somebody here."

Naruto's nose wrinkled. "Do they really serve people here too?"

"Um, no," his host admitted awkwardly. "They're not supposed to but the chefs make a special case for me because they know I'm a constable. I shouldn't take advantage like that, I know."

The genin nodded immediately in comprehension then shot him a mischievous, conspiratorial grin. "Why not? Every job's got to have some special perks, right?"

Haku smiled back but shook his head. "No, Naruto, it's still an abuse of power. Though it's a small service, the people who work here might conclude that because they've done ME a favor that I owe them one. Or, just as easily, they might assume that if they denied me then I would use my powers as a constable to make trouble for them.

"In any case, I should be much more careful about such matters," he observed as a man came up the stairs carrying a tray atop which rested two huge, piping bowls. "Oh, I hope you like ramen," offered Haku in an apologetic tone, "It's all they have."

* * *

"This is great!" laughed Naruto after his third bowl. "I can hardly believe it, just a few DAYS ago I thought you were dead and now we're friends and everything!"

Haku gave the blond a fond smile at the summation and nodded. "Life's funny like that, I suppose," he replied then raised an eyebrow. "I have to say I was quite worried and thought you might be dead too after I'd learned that Konohagakure had been invaded."

"Hmm, yeah," said Naruto whose yellow brow knitted at the recent memory. "That was right during the chunin exams. Nobody saw it coming either." A somber expression crept over his whisker-marked face. "That's when the Third Hokage died."

The taller ninja nodded in appreciation, reading from his visitor's tone and the stillness in his sapphire eyes how dear the previous ninja-lord must have been to him. From Naruto's friendly, self-assured demeanor and the loyalty of his friends, Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke, it had been easy to imagine the leaf-ninja's life as being near carefree.

_Perhaps,_ Haku reconsidered, _that was only wishful thinking._

"It was hard for you," asked Naruto, though it wasn't really a question, in a surprisingly subdued and thoughtful voice, "wasn't it."

Haku looked up from his thoughts, knowing what the blond meant – the sum of the last eight months since they'd met last, recovering from his near-death at the hands of Kakashi, the death of his master Zabuza then finding a new path in life. He supposed Naruto might have gone through something similar following Lord Sarutobi's passage.

"Yes," Haku answered simply. "My Master Zabuza was my whole world. Following him, helping him fulfill his dreams, being a weapon at his side was all I knew. And that was greatly fulfilling to me." The teenager looked off. This was still a hard story to tell, but he was grateful to have in his new-found friend a receptive and understanding ear. "When Mari told me he was dead, I didn't know what I would do for a long time. Although, in retrospect," he went on, "I didn't have much of a choice BUT to persevere. To give in to my injuries or the let ANBU kill me," Haku's brow narrowed, "that's not how Zabuza trained me…although I'm not at all sure he would approve of what I've chosen to do with my life instead either."

The boy sitting across the table from him nodded with awkward sympathy.

"But what about you?" offered Haku, who was bound and determined NOT to go on and on and talk Naruto into a coma as he had last time. Not that he had a very good understanding about what friends usually talked to each other about, but the teenager didn't want to push the limits. Besides all that, Haku WAS genuinely curious. "I can't even imagine what kinds of trouble you must have gotten into."

"Well it hasn't been easy!" Naruto declared eagerly, an honest assessment delivered with a confident grin, and Haku could tell from the look on the smaller ninja's face that he should get ready for an earful -- the floodgates were about to open!

* * *

Between greedy chews and slurps of his ramen, Naruto poured out a series of adventures told as an almost continuous stream of consciousness: the chunin exams, the Forest of Death, then a strange new mentor named Jiraiya who'd taught Naruto how to balance his chakra and summon giant toads (!?). There were one-on-one combats where Naruto had managed to defeat Kiba…and then Neji! There was the Sound and Sand's invasion, and the almost overwhelmingly malevolent presence of a sand-shinobi named Gaara whose father, the fourth Kazekage, had sealed inside the young red-head the powerful sand-spirit, Ichibi no Shukaku.

The young ninja's narrative crested intensely as he described saving his partner, Sakura and very probably the entire Hidden Leaf Village from Gaara's wrath in a truly horrific battle that flattened the forested landscape and left both warriors spent but Naruto victorious. In the end, though Konoha had suffered great loss of life including Lord Sarutobi's, the village had prevailed.

Haku sat back and rubbed his delicate chin, grey eyes wide. As astonishingly epic and unexpected a tale as Naruto had just related, the teenager was quite taken too with the completely novel idea that Konoha's Third Hokage had been as much the wise and kindly grandfather, a friend and mentor, as he'd been a ninja lord, and had actually given his life to protect those of his people. That was a far cry from Kiri's Lord Oku, the Fourth Mizukage who'd fled before Master Zabuza's onslaught, willing enough to let his ninja praetorian fall under the decapitating, whirlwind sweeps of the Demon of the Hidden Mist's blood-drenched zanbato.

Naruto, meanwhile, launched with barely a pause into his encounters with the notorious snake-sannin, Orochimaru -- a missing leaf-ninja who'd descended to evil's most narcissistic depths, the kage of the Village Hidden in the Sound and architect of the invasion of Konoha as well as, Haku had no doubt, his former village's forbidden eugenics program.

As the energetic young ninja continued, with hands flying this way and that for emphasis when they weren't drawing up broth-steeped morsels of pork or shrimp or lengths of draping noodles from his bowl, Haku couldn't help but be a little troubled by the continuing back-story of Naruto and Sasuke's increasingly bitter relationship. It cut across what he'd always assumed about their friendship since the first battle at the bridge where the two genin had been willing to give their very lives for one another.

But, the black-haired teenager realized, things weren't always what they seemed, and feelings, he knew, not _just_ love, could flare up or die out for a thousand reasons or for no reason at all.

He of course remembered from his chance conversation with Sakura that Sasuke, shockingly, had left the village to become Orochimaru's disciple.

Haku listened intently, hanging on every word, as Naruto told him in a grave, more intense voice about a fight he'd had with Sasuke on a Konoha rooftop where things had seemingly come to a head -- a fierce battle that ended without conclusion only due to Kakashi-sensei's intervention.

_People who care for each other DO fight,_ Haku considered after the initial shock.

After all, he and Mari fought, well, _argued_, fairly frequently. And she and all her brothers fought in the very literal sense almost constantly – some day-to-day bickering here, some harsh words, a push, pinch or shove there which sometimes erupted into screaming, shouting, red-in-the-face, furniture-breaking, plaster-shattering, clothes-tearing, dishes flying, punching, kicking, biting and hair-pulling all-out brawls.

As puzzling as these interactions were to someone who'd grown up alone, Haku had come to conclude from what he'd experienced in his new roles as boyfriend, sensei, brother and constable that disputes were inherent to any kind of relationship; and that it was the boundaries of those disputes shaped by compassion, regard, humility and respect that formed the real demarcation between love and hate, compromise and selfishness. As savagely as Mari and/or her brothers went at each other from time to time they ALWAYS stopped when blood was drawn or tears flowed…or they broke something that could not easily be concealed from their mom and dad.

As Naruto was describing Sasuke though, it sounded like the odds of the Uchiha crossing that line were all but certain.

When the blue-eyed leaf-ninja reached the part where his partner left the Hidden Leaf Village in the company of the snake-sannin's minions, it came as no surprise. What Haku _hadn't_ expected though was that Naruto and most of his class of genin had then been sent, not to kill Sasuke, but to bring him back!

Haku blinked at that, not really understanding what Lady Tsunade planned to DO with the renegade once back in her custody though he thought the idea seemed noble considering everything Sasuke and his Uchiha clan had endured.

Haku listened breathlessly then as Naruto went on to recount his and his friends' terrible contests against Orochimaru's 'Sound Four,' and startled at the blond genin's battle with their leader -- a deadly and capable Kaguya descendant named Kimimaro.

_Another Kaguya!?_ Zabuza's disciple marveled as the idea struck him that there really could be more from Water Country's blood-gifted clans who survived the massacres than he'd thought.

As bizarre as the story had become between where Naruto had started and where he finally caught up with Sasuke at the Valley at the End, Haku didn't know what to expect but was more than a little glad that Naruto was right there sitting across from him as proof positive that he'd survived.

Haku grimaced as the climactic moment to Naruto's tale swept him in – with Sasuke shoving a blazing chidori through the genin's chest, the blond actually managing to recover then grabbing the Uchiha by the ankles and 'cracking the whip' with him clear across the valley where they fought into a cliff face using a chain formed by a few hundred shadow clones! But the raven-haired fugitive, far from being defeated, morphed into some sort of kabuki-haired, black-eyed, black-lipped monster with an ebony tattoo marking in the middle of his face and giant hands for wings! The real battle had only begun!

When Naruto finished, Haku could only stare at him in amazement. The former Demon's Apprentice blew out a breath then tried a bite of his remaining ramen but it had grown cold. How sad. If it was too hot, he could easily cool it…but too cold – there wasn't much he could do about that.

"Wow," muttered Haku with a dumb look, "I…I really don't know what to say."

He looked again at Naruto who, after so much excited talking and reliving in some ways his victories and defeats, had fallen into an uneasy silence. The older ninja wondered why for a moment before it dawned on him – all those times throughout Naruto's story where he'd suddenly and inexplicably _erupted_ with power, enough to defeat Neji, or Gaara, or fight Sasuke armed with his sharingan, not to mention the power of his new master's cursed seal. That there was another story behind just how he'd been able to do all those things was hard to talk around, though Naruto had tried.

Or perhaps that WAS Naruto's way of broaching the subject: by not talking about it, realizing that Haku was sure to notice and fill in the gaps himself.

_That 'other' chakra inside him, _Haku remembered vividly as a frown settled over his face.

Back during that first battle at the bridge, faced with certain defeat and agonized over Sasuke's apparent death, Naruto had suddenly become possessed with a chakra unlike any Haku ever could have imagined – red and savage, dark, elemental and nearly limitless in its power. The more than a dozen puncture wounds the boy had sustained evaporated almost instantly in a surge of energy that enabled him to avoid Haku's blows, resist his senbon, surpass his speed then seize his masked enemy and shatter the Demon's Apprentice's Crystal Ice Mirrors like they were nothing.

All of that, Haku had no doubt, was only the _merest_ expression of what the young leaf-genin's monstrous energies were capable of. The black-haired ninja had thought about that from time to time and was fairly sure of what the preternatural source of that power had to be. Within the realm of possibilities, there simply weren't that many explanations.

Leveling grey eyes at Naruto, the young ninja half-expected to see in Naruto a tiny glimpse of that terrible power sequestered inside him once again -- what might be the Hidden Leaf Village's ultimate weapon, the _Nine-Tailed Fox!_

But the boy across the table from him only sat, caged in sad silence, his chopsticks stirring idly at what little remained at the bottom of his bowl. Beneath Naruto's crown of wild, yellow hair, his sapphire eyes stared downcast, unable to look at Haku in fear of what they might see in his face.

Haku's lips fell open as he blinked; guilt lancing him. "Naruto," the taller ninja stammered at once, swallowed then said, meaning every word: "I don't care _how_ you survived and did all those things…only that you're here now."

The blond looked up as if rescued, the depth of the relief he felt evident in his expression. He gave a quick, grateful smile then moved on to what he must have wanted to ask _someone_ for a long time: "Why did Sasuke leave like that? Throw us all aside like we were nothing, like we were garbage," he rasped bitterly in a cracking voice, "to join up with that, that _snake-faced creep!_"

Haku frowned and shook his head. "I'd only be guessing, Naruto. My clan was killed too, but I never knew them so I don't feel the hurt of their absence like Sasuke must have." The teenager went on, knowing he related nothing Naruto didn't already know, but that 'knowing' and 'accepting' were two entirely different things. Maybe, Haku thought, hearing it from someone else might help him bridge that gap. "Then there's his brother who is not only still at liberty after committing such atrocities but seems to be making it a point to goad his little brother into seeking vengeance."

Naruto frowned, understanding the explanation in his head but still refusing it in his heart.

"Being an Uchiha too," Haku added in a speculative tone, "must carry a weight – the weight of that clan's history, the expectations of having to live up to the name, how some people fear the mysterious powers of their sharingan while others seek to exploit it. It could never have been easy for him, no matter how talented Sasuke is. And then --," he began but abruptly let the words trail off.

Thankfully, Naruto didn't notice.

_And then,_ Haku continued to himself, _any clan that has a kekkei-genkai developed it by manipulating its own bloodlines. It stands to reason that their members might turn out to have…_ The ninja toyed with any number of ways to put it but settled with the almost-misleadingly innocuous phrase:_ unintended idiosyncrasies._

The older ninja hummed thoughtfully, remembering that he too held secrets too uncomfortable to divulge outright even to a friend.

"At any rate," Haku concluded in a lighter tone, feeling a little guilty that he was about to distract his friend so inelegantly, "that was quite a battle you described. All the training you've done, jutsu you've mastered and progress you've made. I'm very, very impressed!"

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Yeah," he agreed but only to a point, "even though I lost the fight I wanted to win the most."

"You can't win all the time," said Haku with a gentle shake of his head,

"Mmm-hmm, and that really was, like, my toughest fight ever." Naruto shivered then rubbed the side of his chest reflexively as he remembered. "Man," he blurted as a sour look came over his face, "that chidori really, really hurt!"

"Really?" gasped Haku in feigned shock, "tell me about it."

"Well, YEAH – the heat, the bright flash and then there's the – OH!" yelped Naruto, eyes wide. "Sorry," the boy amended in a panic, "I FORGOT!"

Haku stared for a moment as if insulted but then laughed, "you FORGOT?" letting Naruto know he didn't hold it against him. The teenager, who'd been Zabuza Momochi's sole disciple, wondered at how different things seemed in hindsight…and the things he could now find humor in.

"Hey! I've been talking non-stop!" Naruto grumbled light-heartedly then rocked forward over the table to give his host a shove. "YOU'RE the one who's supposed to be dead; what have YOU been up to all this time?!"

Haku went blank at the question. "Uh," he muttered awkwardly. "Not…not that much, really. It's just that --. It all seems kind of, well," he was forced to admit, "a bit boring compared to everything _you've_ done."

Naruto frowned and waved off his host's reservations. "It's not boring to ME," he piped vigorously then coaxed: "Come on, TELL me!" The blond leaned forward, rested his chin in both hands, grinned like a Cheshire cat then added: "tellme-tellme-tellme-tellme-tellme!"

Haku couldn't help but brighten at his friend's silliness. "Alright," he agreed reluctantly as it became Naruto's turn to settle in to listen. "I guess it begins just after our fight…with a girl and an undertaker's cart."


	12. Snow Angels Part 4

_Hmmm, I guess my goal for writing shorter chapters but update more frequently is out the window ;(. Maybe just read half of this, wait two weeks, then read the other half. That'll work out about right :P._

_Mmm, on second look, this chapter isn't really that much longer than most of the others, so just do what you do ;)._

_As always, I hope you like._

_--Jonohex_

* * *

**Naruto**

Naruto rose the next morning to the gentle harmonies of wind, lapping waves and distant seagulls. The scent of breakfast was thick in the air and, beyond the open window to Inari's upstairs room, the sun glowed brightly against an azure sky. (**MAN** being on vacation was awesome!) Sitting up on the futon Tazuna had unrolled for him, the blond stretched and yawned in his pajamas and nightcap then noticed that Inari was already dressed and ready to go.

"Oh!" the black-haired boy piped worriedly, "sorry, I hope I didn't wake you up, Naruto. I figured you got in late."

Naruto paused for a second and blinked bleary blue eyes, a little unused to anyone being _that_ considerate to him. "Oh, no, it's ok," he answered lazily. "This is my last day here so I got to make the most of it. Hey, I'll tell you what," offered the visiting genin in an inspired tone, "after breakfast I can give you some more pointers on that Transformation Jutsu you've been working on before we meet up with Haku and Chuuya."

Inari brightened and nodded eagerly. "That'd be great! I really like having YOU around as my very own live-in ninja!" After only a moment though, the boy's smile slid into a pouting frown. "I hate it that you gotta leave tomorrow; it's like you only just GOT here!"

Naruto smiled in return, deeply warmed by the kid's sentiment. Staying with him, Tazuna and Tsunami was a lot like being part of a family -- grandfather, mother and kid-brother. Hanging around Inari, especially helping him out with his training, made the young ninja remember too what he liked so much about Konohamaru.

"We still have a good part of the day today," declared Naruto as he hopped to his feet. "AND!" he added fiercely, a prophet in pajamas, "the sooner you learn that Transformation Jutsu the sooner I can teach you my own '**special'** version of it."

Inari's dark eyes bugged excitedly at the prospect. "Wow! Really?! What is it?!"

"I'll just keep that to myself for now," said Naruto cagily, playing it cool and casually waving the boy off, "until you're ready to handle THAT kind of power." The young ninja snickered cleverly then, barely able to contain himself, as his mind visited what Haku's reaction might be the first time he experienced the 'Sexy Jutsu' – Naruto's most, maybe even the WORLD'S most, notorious technique!

* * *

While Inari and Chuuya attended their morning classes, Naruto accompanied Haku who was more than happy to show him the various places they'd missed yesterday. The most intriguing of these by far was the bazaar: a sprawling, ramshackle city within a city of vendors' stalls, kiosks and displays that had evolved/accumulated on an expansive site that had been cleared for some big new building complex. Construction had yet to begin however and so anyone who felt they had a product or service to sell, a song to sing, or dance to perform had grabbed a piece of real estate there and set up shop.

In between filling in Haku on the various smaller adventures he'd had in between the big ones, Naruto buzzed hummingbird-like from attraction to attraction. Practically everything under the sun that could be sold was sold here, from jewelry to produce, livestock and exotic animals, magical charms to sinister-looking weapons from far-away lands. The air rang with strange music, prayers and insults, barkers' and buskers' cries, and carried with it wafting aromas that varied from the appealing to the disgusting in widely-ranging intensities. Strong perfumes and incense, rotting garbage, baking bread, body odors, fragrant flowers and animal dung all competed for dominance amidst the potpourri.

The blond visitor stopped to watch a rail-thin, white-robed fakir make a monstrous cobra sway to the intoxicating motions and sounds of his flute while, next to him, a young woman sat in the lotus position amidst a terrarium crammed with vipers.

"Wow," gushed Naruto who squirmed his way through the small crowd to watch up close.

The moment the charmer finished, the snake hissed then snapped at the young ninja who yelped and cringed back, prompting its alarmed owner to goad the animal back into its basket while the onlookers chuckled at the boy's panic-stricken face. Not knowing the language, the fakir bowed an apology while the rest of the crowd applauded then drifted away with a few pausing long enough to drop some coins onto the performer's rug.

"From what you were telling me about Orochimaru, that flute might have come in handy," Haku joked, an amiable smirk slanting over the features of his gentle, feminine face. "Maybe you should inquire about lessons."

"Yeah, maybe," answered Naruto with fading tension. His blue eyes narrowed crossly then as he jabbed an accusing finger toward the snake-basket. "Hey, _Constable Okame_, is it even legal to HAVE a killer snake like that?"

Haku tossed the fakir a one-ryo coin. "We don't really sweat the small stuff here."

The busker pressed his palms together and nodded his thanks as the two traded friendly grins.

That was when Naruto started to notice that everywhere they went people nodded and bowed to Haku, exchanged familiar glances or acknowledged him with little waves, addressing him as 'Sir', 'Constable', or 'Mr. Okame'. The omnipresent corps of Wave Country's civilian constables treated him with the utmost respect, and even the mist-ninja, young teen and pre-teen genin were all differential…if only reluctantly. For that matter, practically everyone in this jam-packed market at least made an effort to step aside for the girlish ninja while the little yellow-haired newcomer from Fire Country got battered unmercifully with unyielding shoulders and sharp, territorial elbows.

"ALRIGHT, what gives?!" barked Naruto testily after a time, bruised and highly annoyed. "Do you know _everybody_ around here?"

As they wound their way through the dense, jigsaw maze of stalls and stands, crossing through and between solid-seeming shafts of sunlight and pools of intimate, inky shadow, Haku shrugged. "Most everyone knows me. With the way I look I'm kind of hard to miss, even out of uniform."

The blond rushed in front of the black-haired teenager to head him off, poked him in the chest then rose up on his toes and squinted at him eye to eye. "So you're really some kind of big deal around here, huh?"

"What? No, not really," a surprised, slightly flustered Haku explained shyly. "It's just that, for those first few months after the Mist made Wave Country a protectorate, the Magistrate only had a company of genin and a handful of chunin to oversee the place. As you've seen, the genin were all between ten and twelve, and right from Kirigakure's Martial School with very little practical experience. While appropriately fierce and quick, they weren't exactly suited for maintaining order like a normal sort of police force. And the older chunin were even worse."

Naruto leaned away and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah; how's that?"

The taller ninja's grey eyes flickered for a second. "Their idea of breaking up a disturbance, for example," he illustrated, "is to kill everyone involved in creating it."

"Oh!" The boy's expression blanched.

"So until Lady Orimi realized that she needed a few hundred regular officers, a mix of older, long-time residents and newcomers to go out on patrol, and keep her ninja in reserve to take on specific tasks and handle what untrained officers couldn't, I was the only constable around that anyone felt was the least bit approachable. To tell you the truth, I found myself a bit overwhelmed."

Naruto nodded, somewhat placated, then fell in beside Haku as they pressed their way through the bazaar's crowded, narrow aisles. "Ok, I get it now," he allowed then gave a reluctant, grimace of a grin. "I guess…I guess it really IS kinda cool how everyone looks up to you."

"I'm glad you think so but I wouldn't put it like that. It's simply --," Haku paused at his friend's tone. "Naruto, are you…are you _jealous?_"

The blond crossed his arms and looked away. "Maybe."

"Naruto," replied Haku with a laugh, "they named the BRIDGE after you, remember?! How much more acknowledgement do you want?"

The young genin brightened. "Oh yeah!" he piped in his gravelly tenor then scratched a whisker-marked cheek before continuing awkwardly: "I guess I forgot about that."

Haku spared the leaf-ninja an amused, lopsided grin then turned to move on but the expression suddenly faded from his face as his smoky eyes flickered off into the crowd. "Naruto," he inquired suddenly and seriously, "you _did_ say you came here alone didn't you?"

"Huh, yeah…why?"

The taller shinobi tendered him a curious look. "Nothing, never mind," he answered in passing.

* * *

*******

Stopping to browse through reams of fabrics he had no interest at all in buying, the man whose face was not his own risked a glance at the mist-ninja the Yotsu underling had just pointed out – a shinobi constable named Hiroo Okame. The stranger's eyes, an easily forgettable shade of brown that was quite unlike his own, widened as scoffing laughter escaped him.

The pretend customer looked back for the underling to chastise her in a nuance of expression: '_THIS delicate little flower with the geisha's face and reedy limbs is the one who's defeated all your soldiers, swordsmen, mercenaries and rogue ninja?'_ But the minion had already scuttled off and vanished into the thick of the crowd.

_Good plan,_ he judged approvingly then added: _how rare a thing it is for someone to recognize their place._

A stain-crusted, brown-toothed smile peeked through an equally illusory untrimmed beard for, after a string of ill fortune, his luck was about to change. The Yotsu triad was going to pay him a truly staggering sum for killing Wave Country's Magistrate -- revenge it seemed for some outrage the details of which he hadn't paid any attention to. The reasons why were irrelevant anyway.

If he were successful, and having reviewed the forces at Orimi Hirai's command he didn't see any reason at all why he wouldn't be, he would have to be careful to leave no trace for their ANBU to follow. Over a career many would consider questionable, he'd faced shinobi of practically every stripe but never Kiri before. It was said they were vengeful.

The man again cast a look toward the girlish ninja, who looked like nothing more than a little sister wandering the streets in clothes she'd borrowed from her big brother.

_This fool's like a broomstick wearing a tent!_ the assassin concluded dismissively then gasped as a familiar blond-haired boy in loose, grey pants and a cream-colored t-shirt drew up companionably beside the androgynous constable and flashed a wide, cheerful smile.

_NO!_ the man thought, disbelieving the evidence of his eyes at first, _it couldn't --._

But really, who else in the entire world looked like THAT! Even without the ridiculous orange ensemble, the bandaged leg and blue hitai-ate that carried the emblem of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, who else in the world had hair THAT yellow, eyes THAT blue and those strange marks on his cheeks!

"Naruto," he hissed in a whisper between tightly clenched teeth as painful memories of the brat rose up inside him consuming all else in a conflagration of hate, "Uzumaki."

The plan was gone now, like it never existed. The Lady Magistrate Orimi Hirai might well still be in danger but not from him; not right now anyway.

And the Yotsu's bounty? At this moment it was worth less in the assassin's mind than ashes.

* * *

**Naruto**

Emerging from the bazaar, Haku and Naruto were greeted by the riotous spectacle of children playing all in home-made costumes that made them seem strangely familiar though in miniature. This time, Haku explained, the gang of 'ninjas' (mostly boys) had managed to recruit an actual girl to be 'Sakura'.

"Hey," Naruto gushed in approval, "it's US! Hehehe, we're kinda cute!"

The taller boy nodded. "See, I told you. The battles we've had are about the most exciting events ever to take place in Wave Country. Few of the newcomers know anything about it, but the children who were here back then remember."

The blond gestured: "Wow, look at YOU," he commented, pointing out the slender kid with the long, black hair, jade-colored bathrobe and plastic mask, "and there's even a Zabuza." Naruto giggled. "He's not very scary though, even WITH that big cardboard sword!"

"I'd say he's scary enough for an eight-year-old," observed Haku whose thin brows narrowed sympathetically. "I really hope he asked his father before taking those pin-striped trousers and chopping the legs short, or 'Zabuza' might be in for a beating."

"Huh," Naruto grunted as the two watched the kids run around and shout at each other for awhile. "So what's the rules?"

"I never could quite figure them out. Basically it's half game, half theatrical production and half historical reenactment."

Naruto gave him a puzzled look and started to say something.

"If you question the math, you'll _never_ understand."

"Fine," the blond answered then started to glare peevishly at the child representing him (in an orange safety vest and with hair that was _dishwater_ blond at best!) who fled before mini-Haku's surprisingly graceful onslaught of straight, swinging arms and high, wheeling, ballet kicks.

"Oh, I can't believe I didn't notice," said Haku, fingers resting lightly against his delicate chin. "Their Haku is a girl also"

Naruto coughed then shot his companion a glance; yellow eyebrow raised. "Yeah, wow, what a stretch," he muttered. "Hey, how come you're so interested?"

"I could really use a girl to round out my team with Inari and Chuuya. And _there_, you see that? Her endurance is already quite good. She's not even breathing hard during all this exercise," he opined in a casual, erudite voice, sounding every bit like some sort of ninja talent scout. "And her flexibility is exceptional."

"Humph," grumbled Naruto who crossed his arms, "that Naruto could sure use some help."

Suddenly the pretend Haku stopped, dug some plastic shuriken from her robe but the girl's wild throws sent them almost straight down into the pavement.

The leaf-ninja hooted as he elbowed Haku. "You'll _really_ have to work on her --," he started to say then paled in mortification as little Naruto reached into a pocket then cast a handful of flour into his playmate's face.

"HAHA," pealed mini-Naruto, "secret ninja death powder!"

"Nooooooooooooooooooooo!" the girl squealed with admirable melodramatic flair, clawed at her throat then spun around, lurched, lurched again then fell gently to the ground – 'DEAD'!

Before the aggrieved 'Zabuza' could drag his unwieldy sword over and come to the aid of his fallen disciple, or anyone else knew what was happening, the REAL Naruto confronted his smaller version.

"THAT'S NOT HOW IT HAPPENED!" he barked in squeaky outrage. "What do you think you're trying to do?! Secret-ninja death powder! Secret-ninja DEATH powder?! Where did you get THAT from?! You need to get your facts right!"

Just as the little costumed boy's lip started to quiver and his pitiful puppy eyes filled with tears, Haku took Naruto from behind in an anaconda-tight over-and-under grip and hauled him away, literally kicking and screaming.

"Shadow clones, ya' dumb kid!" the vexed, red-faced blond continued undeterred with a shake of his fist, blue eyes wide and flecks of foam spraying. "Say it WITH ME now", he brayed, "**SHADOW CLONES!**"

Once out of sight, Haku released his friend who was still stewing. "Um," the taller of the two ventured in the essence of understatement: "I think you might have handled that with a touch more detachment."

The young leaf-ninja turned to him with a hurt look, still simmering, and gestured wide. "Did you SEE that? Poison powder?! Come on, YOU know I don't use that stuff; I would NEVER use that stuff!"

Haku put fingers over his lips to hide his smile, making Naruto wonder just what it was about himself that made him so funny when he was mad. LOTS of ninjas were really, really scary when they were mad – Kakashi, sure, Sakura DEFINITELY…hmmm, maybe not Chouji.

"Sorry, Naruto," offered Haku. "But your tale is out there now for people to make of it what they wish. If it's any consolation, you should see what some peoples' opinion is of ME. Many of them are not at all flattering." The former Demon's Apprentice clasped his hands behind his back as he walked. "In any case," he explained in a soothing tone, "I think your sterling reputation will survive those kids.

"In fact," ventured Haku supportively, "from what you were saying earlier, it sounds like you've really impressed people and made friends everywhere you've been."

Naruto stopped to think for a moment. "Well…yeah, I think so," he agreed then rested both hands casually behind his neck. "Sure! I mean, there's good people _everywhere_…even if they don't seem like it at first."

Haku returned a smile at the oblique reference, but it faltered a little as his gaze flickered toward the rooftops. The smile returned after a moment. "I suppose," he probed in a labored, hypothetical voice, "you must have made your share of _enemies_ too."

"Huh?" answered the genin, truly puzzled. The boy's lips pursed as he canted sapphire eyes abstractly in thought. "No, I don't think so. Not that I can remember anyway."

* * *

Later on in a stretch of forest far from town, the four gathered – Naruto and Inari, Haku and Chuuya to train. At least, that's what the plan was, but it soon devolved into just messing around, hanging out and swapping more stories…one of which turned to how the Great Naruto Bridge had been almost totally destroyed during the second battle that had taken place there.

"Say WHAT?" cried Naruto who shot Haku a look. "You blew up my BRIDGE?!"

The former Demon's Apprentice returned a nervous smile and wrung his fingers. "Didn't I mention that?"

"NO, you didn't," the blond pointed out. "You just said there was a big explosion."

"But Grampa built it back, Naruto," Inari interjected, tugging the straps of his teal overalls, "just as good as new."

"Yeah!" confirmed Chuuya though in a more confrontational tone, "besides, it wasn't Haku's fault."

Naruto's face remained pinched as the two black-haired Wave Country kids needled him for awhile until they'd milked it sufficiently then moved on, to how MEAN Juri Chono was, the team of Mist ANBU sent to kill Haku and Zabuza and how some of them turned out to be not so bad, and then…to the FIRST battle at the bridge.

Chuuya's dark eyes swiveled to Naruto and looked the diminutive ninja over doubtfully, mind working away in unfathomable little-kid computation before he chirped: "Hey, why don't you guys fight again? That'd be really COOL to see a rematch!"

The two ninjas looked up in surprise, at each other uncertainly then at the two boys. Inari's face froze with concern while Chuuya's was flushed with pure youthful enthusiasm.

"Come on; why not?!" cajoled the round-headed kid. "You guys are in awesome ninja fights like all the time; I've never even SEEN one."

Naruto's face turned questioningly toward Haku's then lifted slightly at which the taller, black-haired ninja shrugged.

"That's not exactly true, Chuuya," Haku remarked with a wry smirk. "After all, you knocked _me_ out with your 'powerful tai-jutsu' if I recall correctly." The black-haired boy cringed with guilt. "But I suppose it could be instructive for these two to watch us spar, Naruto," the constable acquiesced then wandered a few paces away to a clearing amidst the trees.

Naruto, clearly ambivalent to the idea, frowned then followed Haku and made a stand a few steps from him. Though neither appeared especially eager to engage, at a silent, mutually-understood signal they closed quickly and traded feints, probing each others' guards and testing reactions to different combinations. After only a couple of minutes of half-hearted action they parted then stopped, seeing that they were starting to repeat themselves.

"THAT was sucktacular," growled Chuuya with a disappointed glower.

"Sorry guys," said Naruto who smiled disarmingly and rubbed his neck. "I never thought I'd say this but I'm just not in the mood to fight, especially not Haku, I mean…he's – he's a friend and everything!"

Haku nodded then explained in a thoughtful tone: "Even though it's just practice, the last time we faced each other turned out to be something of a pivotal moment in both our lives. I suppose it's normal that we'd have reservations."

"But that was like a million years ago!" objected Chuuya stridently, incensed at being so denied. "And it's not like you'd actually be trying to beat each other up or kill each other this time, right?"

"Right."

"Of course."

"So what's the problem?"

Inari's head swiveled anxiously from Naruto to Haku to Chuuya, then he broke in: "I think they're right, Chuuya. Besides, they shouldn't fight if they don't want to; or just for our sake."

His teammate shot him a caustic, accusing look. "What? Are you crazy?!"

Inari's eyes beetled intensly. "I'm serious, Chuuya, it was really bad last time. YOU don't know 'cause YOU weren't there!"

The older boy burned at having THAT rubbed in his face and cursed under his breath. "Fine!" he blurted hotly as if he might never recover from this tragedy of an opportunity lost, "whatever!"

"Hey, I know," offered Naruto with unexpected grace who slipped between the two, separating them discreetly, "how about a race instead, maybe to that old quarry?"

Inari embraced the idea while Chuuya griped for awhile but ended up going along begrudgingly. As the three worked out the rules and details, Haku stood apart, seemingly distracted.

"Hey," Naruto observed, "what's wrong?"

The long-haired shinobi shook his head softly as if to wave away the question. "When I was Zabuza's disciple, I remember I used to spar with him frequently and with Meizu and Gozu as well. Thinking back, they were much more likely to injure or even kill me than you – and by that, I mean by accident or because they weren't overly concerned for my welfare."

Naruto nodded then hummed as his eyes lifted in thought. "At the academy we always practiced against Iruka-sensei's shadow clones. I guess so nobody would get hurt. That was ok for awhile, I guess." A smirk of happy remembrance came to his face. "But sparring with Bushy-Brows is LOTS more fun!

"Anyway," the blond continued then gave a wary Inari an acknowledging glance before concluding soberly, "Inari's probably right, we…we probably shouldn't."

Haku smiled agreeably and nodded at which Naruto clapped him on the shoulder and went to join Inari and Chuuya. He'd only gone a few steps though when the taller ninja called to him.

"Naruto?"

As the boy turned, his eyes caught the tail end of the whirling motion of Haku's arm then tracked the sphere's motion in flight as it arced through space, seeming to grow as it came before filling the young ninja's vision and smashing across his forehead in a splattering, explosion of white.

Naruto stood there and blinked, stunned and open-mouthed.

After a few long seconds his hand slowly, as if by its own accord, reached up and slicked the cold water and slush from his numb skin and soggy, yellow hair; for Haku had just beaned him nearly between the eyes with a snowball.

Of course…it was 'on'.

Inari gasped in disbelief, eyes goggled, while Chuuya brayed with raucous laughter almost to the point of collapse.

"Then again," the older ninja added with a girlish smile and flamboyant curtsy, "perhaps we should."

Naruto's eyes narrowed to slits then slowly widened as a tigerish grin spread over his newly determined face. Whatever reservations he'd held before had most _definitely_ been driven away by Haku's three-and-a-half-inch-in-diameter, icy-cold mood-changer. "Y'know," he declared, the Devil in his smile, "I think you could be right."

Chuuya sprang closer for a better view, pumping his arms and crying loud in his best ring-announcer's voice: "Ihhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-it's **TIME!**"

* * *

**Chuuya & Inari**

Naruto's charge was as fast and irresistible as a train steaming downhill. Haku sidestepped deftly for position, parrying the younger ninja's fists and replying with counters of his own. Finding himself outmatched for speed, the blond leaf-ninja turned defensive, backpedaled quickly from a storm of kicks, leaped back and pressed his hands together in a seal. Suddenly the forest was thick with Narutos.

"Yeah!" cheered Chuuya. "Whooo-hoo! THAT'S what I'm talkin' 'bout! Awesome! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO!"

Haku, drastically outnumbered, leaped up, sprang off the top of one of the duplicate Narutos' heads, then another's shoulder then leaped into the treetops with a blond army in fierce pursuit.

Inari clutched his floppy, white hat, only a few feet away from the yellow-haired stampede while Chuuya, sitting next to him, belted out in a teasing voice: "Uh-OH! Sensei's gonna get his **A$$** kicked!"

The tumult raged for nearly a full minute before Inari looked around and answered his friend, "No he's not; look!"

His heavier partner glanced all around, through the forest, into the green-leaved branches and through the crowd of little blond ninjas. "Hey, Haku-sensei, he's…he's gone."

The Narutos' sweeping search, now devolved into looking behind trees, under rocks and piles of leaves drew gradually to a stop.

Chuuya's brow trembled. "Sh-t," he blurted in dismay, "Sensei ran away."

"NO, Chuuya," Inari huffed, rolling his eyes. "He's still here. Can't you see? He's used the Transformation Jutsu to make himself LOOK like one of the clones? See? There's one more than before!"

"Whoa!" Chuuya's dark eyes snapped. "How do you know that?"

"Duh," Inari riposted, "I COUNTED."

Chuuya turned to stare at him as if a third eye had slowly opened in the middle of his teammate's forehead.

Naruto, overhearing this exchange, suddenly stopped and confronted his clones; his expression cross. "Hey!" he bellowed hotly and jacked a thumb into his chest. "THAT'S what I did to Kiba during the chunin exams! I toldja that last night; you can't use my own tricks AGAINST me, get your own!"

A snowball blasted across the back of his yellow-haired head, sending the surprised genin pitching forward.

Naruto whirled around. "Who threw that!" he railed, at which his clones all pointed at one another and started arguing.

Chuuya choked, sputtered, threw his head back and laughed, hands falling to the round curve of his stomach. "Good one, Sensei!"

"Nar-U-TO!" Inari advised loudly and sternly, hands cupped around his mouth like a megaphone, "don't let him mess with your concentration! He's beaten your jutsu but he hasn't beaten YOU."

The young ninja, thus enlightened, gave his de-facto coach a surprised, appreciative look, nodded then sighed, "You're right, Inari." The genin raised his hands then to the middle of his chest then looked around cautiously. "Ok, Haku, let's see which one's really you."

"No Naruto WAIT!" squawked Inari but it was too late.

All around, Naruto's clones vaporized in bursts of dispersing chakra as the boy released his jutsu…all except for twenty that launched themselves at their original, punching and kicking, grabbing on and stomping away with abandon.

Chuuya leaned forward in shock, eyes staring and mouth hanging wide-open. "What the hell is THIS!? Can't Naruto control his own jutsu?"

Inari grimaced at the painfully obvious. "No, Chuuya, sensei summoned his own water clones, made them look like Naruto's and mixed them in with the rest."

"Wow, cool; wish I had some popcorn. I guess you knew that 'cause you counted again." Chuuya threw a jab in the air then a cross. "Go Sensei! BOOM, like he owes ya' money! OH, that's gotta hurt! BAM, like he stole your cookie!"

"Come ON Naruto!" yelled Inari insistently, hoping his friend would hear him.

Whether the boy's urgings worked or it was just coincidental timing, the angry clones suddenly fell back as the blond in the center fought back with a savage flurry of elbows and uppercuts which gave him enough room to jump up high and clear. In mid-air above the dog-pile, Naruto formed a seal creating five new duplicates of himself – four dropped down on the vengeful water clones leaping after the original to delay them while the fifth molded chakra, conjuring a sphere of whirling wind and chakra energy in its master's outstretched hand.

Naruto reached the apex of his jump, jutsu ready, then twisted as he plunged through the onslaught, lashing out in a sweeping circle that spiraled all the way down into the ground. "RASENGAN!" he cried as the power of his jutsu tore through earth and water-clone alike, sending up a towering geyser of water and mud.

Chuuya and Inari ducked their heads and covered up as brown splatter rained down over them, covering the two nearly from head to toe. When they peeked out meekly between upraised arms, the slightly roughed-up-looking Naruto was crouched, panting for breath on a small circle of ground surrounded by the muddy, moat-like furrow his jutsu had carved.

"Man," whispered Chuuya in astonishment. "I…I can't believe it."

Inari blinked. "I knew Naruto was strong from before, but I didn't know he could do THAT."

Silence fell for several moments until --.

"You mentioned that technique yesterday, Naruto," Haku's voice issued coolly from the treetops though it was impossible to discern from where. "But your description didn't do it justice. Suffice it to say, your Rasengan technique is nothing less than spectacular!"

Naruto rose, his stance defiant. "Glad ya liked it," he answered sarcastically.

Inari and Chuuya exchanged looks then braced themselves for what might follow next.

"So what now?" asked the leaf-ninja, standing against a backdrop of forest.

"I think, since you were obliging enough to initiate the first exchange, that I should initiate the second. Though I have to admit that, compared to what we've just witnessed, my humble jutsu can only disappoint."

From the sidelines Chuuya came alive, his shrill voice belting out: "Come on Sensei, Demonic Crystal Ice Mirrors!"

The boy startled then as a ghostly ribbon of fog crept past him, cold and wet as the passage of an eel. Looking around, the two boys found whorls of mist closing in from every direction, thick and grey, until the whole forest was shrouded.

"Aw!" groaned Naruto as the last glimpse of him vanished into the murk. "Hidden Mist Jutsu…not AGAIN!?"

"Use something else, Sensei," Chuuya whined. "We can't SEE!"

"Yes, my student," Haku's voice explained, "that IS kind of the idea."

* * *

**Naruto**

Surrounded by grey billows too heavy to see through, Naruto awaited Haku's next move. This was actually much worse than he'd let on.

_Dammit,_ he cursed to himself, already feeling claustrophobic, as the damp, oppressive atmosphere clung to his skin, water beading on his face.

Back at the first battle at the bridge, Kakashi-sensei had managed to defeat Zabuza's Hidden Mist Jutsu using Earth Style: Fanged Pursuit Jutsu, something Naruto didn't have. In theory, of course, Haku couldn't see either, but somehow the genin knew the Demon's Apprentice had an answer for that.

_Agh, come ON!_ Naruto urged himself, _get a grip! You've beat all kinds of ninjas, all kinds of jutsu and been in spots a lot worse than this. Figure something out!_

A hard palm thudded into the blonde's back -- pulled enough so the force didn't penetrate but enough to send the surprised genin staggering blindly into his muddy moat. The leaf-ninja splashed and stumbled in the muck before he remembered to adjust his chakra so he could walk upon its surface. Naruto spun then, fists lashing, but there was nothing there but mist which coiled in thick, slow vortices around the passage of his arms. It was if the entire world had been rendered into fog except for the ground below which he could feel beneath his feet but not quite see, and the sun above which was only visible as a distant, diffuse glow.

_What should I do?_ Naruto's mind whirled. _Fighting like this won't work since Haku can see somehow and I can't. I guess I could try to run for it and get clear of this mist but I'd probably just go face-first into a tree!_

_Shadow clones?_ the blue-eyed shinobi considered but frowned at the idea.

That was a decent answer to almost everything, but since Haku had just turned that jutsu back on him he didn't want to resort to it again.

_Transformation?_

Since it was just the two of them, he didn't see how that would help.

_Boss Toad?_

That seemed like a waste and besides, Gamabunta would be _royally_ pissed-off at getting summoned without a really, really, REALLY good reason. And he couldn't see how Gamakichi or Gamatatsu could help if he ended up with them.

_Rasengan again?_

Just creating it, Naruto thought, the wind might blow the mist away but that seemed excessive; maybe even a little desperate.

Haku's palms struck Naruto again – one thudding into the ninja's upper arm while another slapped loud as a firecracker across his inner thigh. Naruto staggered from the blows, gathered himself then leaped high, thinking to find a haven in the treetops but strong, long-fingered hands gripped his ankle before he'd gone far and yanked him right back down to the wet ground.

"Naruto," informed Haku, his dispassionate, lilting and girlish voice sounding miles distant. "I'm a bit disappointed. This is a Kiri-ninja's most basic jutsu, working knowledge of which is a requirement for graduation. Have you really no answer for it?"

The blond wiped his wet face with both sleeves then searched all around for any glimpse of his adversary, but staring hard into the haze only made his eyes and head hurt.

* * *

**Haku**

Not three paces away, Haku crouched on the forest floor with one hand pressed against the earth.

_Maybe Inari was right and this IS a bad idea,_ he was starting to realize.

Though he had his own reasons for wanting to test Naruto, the ninja found himself assailed by second thoughts. Blanketed in mist, Haku sighed. He could always just dispel this jutsu but Naruto would surely resent him for that kind of condescension. _No,_ the teenager determined. If he did anger Naruto or even lose his friendship over this it would not be because he had patronized him.

Haku shook his head, baffled for the moment.

_I just never imagined that anyone who could defeat Kiba, Neji and Gaara of the Desert could be so stymied by such a common jutsu,_ he thought. _How could Iruka-sensei, how could Kakashi-sensei for that matter, fail to teach their students something as elementary as how to fight in a mist?_

A disapproving scowl came over the Demon's Apprentice's face before he thought better of it. _No,_ he reconsidered, _it's not their fault. The Mist has not been active outside its own boundaries for quite some time. Why would they teach Naruto to counter a jutsu he was unlikely to ever come across._ The black-haired shinobi chuckled quietly at himself then rolled his eyes. _Actually, I'm over-thinking this – they probably DID teach him but he just wasn't paying attention._

_Ah!_ Haku concluded suddenly and brightened a bit. _Maybe that's the answer._

"Do you mean to tell me that Kakashi-sensei, Konoha's famous copy-ninja, never told you to close your eyes and reach out with your chakra as if it were a sixth sense?" ventured Haku, who wondered how receptive to the suggestion Naruto would be.

"I…well…I just forgot, that's all," the blonde's exasperated voice answered through the curtains of grey.

"That explains it then," Haku continued, padding soundlessly around to Naruto's other side. "But you ALSO forgot how to still your thoughts, control your feelings and listen in your mind for your attacker's destructive intent."

"Dammit, shut-UP, Haku! How come you always have to talk so much?!"

Haku frowned, winced then offered in a professorial tone: "it's not for you, Naruto, it's for Chuuya and Inari. I hope you're paying attention, students."

A moment of silence followed before Chuuya's throaty, boat-whistle reply issued from the fog: "Um, yeah, I hear you sensei!"

"Me too, Sensei!" added Inari.

"There," said Haku, "you see?"

Even through the stew-thick vapors of his jutsu, Zabuza's former student could sense Naruto's fuming.

"Oh, yeah?!" bellowed the blond. "Well, they're gonna see that there's more than one way out of a stupid Hidden Mist Jutsu! Get ready, Haku…SHADOW CLONE --." The blond ninja's words were lost as the back of Haku's wrist whipped into Naruto's stomach just below the breastbone, knocking the wind from him.

"And IF you're opponent isn't gracious enough to give you enough time to form a hand seal?"

"Shadow c-clone --," Naruto persisted, and this time Haku knocked him in the temple with a hooking phoenix-eye punch.

The younger ninja wobbled back, crouched low then leaped straight up, rising high into the air. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he cried when he reached the peak of his ascent, conjuring with the power of his chakra an army of Narutos even vaster than before.

Haku, waiting just below, pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. _Why isn't it ever this easy when I'm TRYING to win?_ the ninja couldn't help but think. He backtracked to the trench Naruto had created with his Rasengan then formed his own seals.

"Ninja art," Haku began as he stood in the center then whipped his foot low, sending an arc of muddy water splashing high into the air, "Ten-thousand Needles of Death."

A blast of arctic wind sent shards of ice exploding outward in every direction, tearing through Naruto's shadow clones which flew back then burst apart – a massacre of horrific proportions had they been real.

The sudden gust tore a rent in the mist, enough to make Haku wonder if maybe his yellow-haired adversary was actually a step ahead of him, but he still didn't really think so.

Up above, Naruto's expression of astonishment turned into one of anticipation at seeing the haze suddenly curl open and his opponent's familiar face emerge clear as day down below. Eager for a straight-up hand-to-hand fight, the keen smile slowly faded from the blond ninja's face for, as gravity pulled him back down so the gap in the vast field of mist began to seal up. By the time Naruto's feet squashed onto the soggy earth everything was exactly the same as when he'd left.

"Rrrrrr!" the genin growled in frustration.

Haku, tracking him closely, wondered just how acute Naruto's blindness to chakra energies really was. _Well, _he thought with a knowing frown, _there is certainly one way to find out._

"Naruto," Haku warned him. "I'm going to hit you now, not lightly as before but with all my strength. If you cannot sense my attack, then I'm afraid this match is over. Unless, of course, you wish to…**give up!**"

The ninja felt a bit guilty at being so obviously manipulative but then smiled at the subtle changes in Naruto's chakra; something was happening in there anyway.

Haku slid silently into position to attack the boy's left side, drew a deep breath to spike his chakra and made his preparations for the Cannon-fist Jutsu. Taking aim dead center, he envisioned with deep intensity the edge of his palm blasting through Naruto's head, splattering it open like a ripe melon.

_NOW!_ thought the teenager deliberately then launched himself at his friend, hoping in the back of his mind that this wouldn't end in disaster.

* * *

**Naruto**

"Whoa!" Naruto yelped, blue eyes widening as he flinched back at a sudden tremor of trepidation, then saw a grey against grey blur pass just in front of his face, close enough that he felt the breeze stir in Haku's passage with the fabric of the shinobi's sleeve tickling the tip of his nose. The genin was tempted to counter but was off-balance and still mostly blind amidst the fog.

Uncluttering his mind, Naruto tried to sense Haku's next move as he had just then and hopped back sure that he'd avoided something but didn't know what. The blond then ducked down and brought his arm along the side of his head a fraction of a second before he felt the impact of the Demon's Apprentice's shin glance hard off his forearm and shoulder. Naruto twisted, fired his rear hand and felt a little satisfaction as the front of his knuckles tapped hard breastbone.

_Hey! I'm kinda getting the hang of this!_ he realized, and a grin crossed the genin's face. When he closed his eyes he could almost 'see' where the taller ninja was – just an outline manifest against the sparkling black with the clearest points falling along the centerline of Haku's body where the seven main chakra centers lay: Base, Sacral, Dan Tien, Heart, Throat, Brow and Crown.

Though Naruto felt he was severely behind on points, he knew now that this match was far from over and that, in the end, HE was the one who was going to win!

* * *

**Haku**

Haku smiled, quite pleased with himself and with Naruto who'd turned out to be quick study despite his self-described less-than-stellar performance at Konoha's ninja academy. But that didn't mean Zabuza's disciple was just going to LET Naruto beat him either. The blond leaf-ninja was strong, tireless, persistent and full of surprises – that, he already knew.

_Very well, Naruto,_ Haku thought, his mood lifting with anticipation, _let's just see if you can surprise me again._

* * *

**Naruto**

Naruto moved through the mist much less blindly than before. By making his brain relax (so to speak), he could definitely sense his opponent – a vague shape that became much clearer when his opponent attacked and focused his chakra.

When Haku had used his wind jutsu to destroy Naruto's clones, the mist had parted for a few seconds, allowing the young leaf-ninja a brief, clear view of the terrain: a view on which he'd concentrated hard to put its imprint in his mind so he could navigate.

The blond smiled brashly, facing right toward where he knew Haku was, and started to circle. His foot almost slipped off the edge of the trench he'd dug out with his Rasengan earlier but he'd been waiting for that. Regaining his balance, the ninja continued, adjusted his chakra, then walked over the surface of the muddy water hoping he didn't seem too anxious when he stopped just on the other side.

He was pretty sure that giggling right now would be a dead giveaway.

Naruto tried instead to focus on that peculiar state of relaxed concentration that let him see Haku's energy. Suddenly it vanished, startling the genin for a moment before it reappeared high above him, coming in fast. The blond jumped aside, feeling the wind as kicks slashed through where he'd been. Dropping down then springing forward, Naruto flung himself at Haku, intent on taking him down. That was 'Plan A', because turning this fight into a wrestling match would _definitely_ cancel out all the advantages Haku got from this mist jutsu.

But as Naruto's arms groped for his opponent, fingers reaching through the haze, he felt a knee-buckling blow connect with the side of his neck. Strong fingers gripped then shoved him down face-first toward the muddy water. The leaf-ninja altered his trajectory, sent a surge of chakra into his feet and went spinning away. He'd escaped but was now wildly off-balance, completely vulnerable and at the same time…maybe a moment from victory.

_Time for 'Plan B',_ he thought and couldn't help but grin.

A soft, wet patter of footsteps racing over the top of the mud followed quickly after Naruto but stopped short with a splash and loud gasp.

_I…GOTCHA!_ thought Naruto even before he heard his own shadow-clones call for him.

"Over here!" one shouted through the fog in Naruto's own inimitable voice. "We got him, we got him! Hurry UP, already!"

Rushing toward the chorus, Naruto balled his fist, coiled it back then let it fly, triangulating exactly between the voices and right at head level.

* * *

**Inari & Chuuya**

"What's going ON?!" Chuuya wailed desperately in the fog, hands clutched to his moist face. "I can't take it anymore!"

Inari elbowed him. "What are you asking ME for, I can't see anything either!" The black-haired boy paused then, almost sick with worry. "I just hope they're alright."

Very slowly the mist began to lift, revealing as it faded the sight of Haku, standing knee deep in mud, restrained by four small, black figures that held him tightly by the legs and arms. Only at the second look did the two kids see that they were just Naruto's shadow-clones covered completely in mud. The real Naruto stood before Haku poised in mid-strike and smiling, his extended fist held out barely an inch from their sensei's nose.

"Wow," muttered Inari, greatly relieved; feeling terribly sorry for Haku but at the same time, SO proud of Naruto.

"What the --!?" blurted Chuuya less happily. "Awwwwwww!"

The girlish features of their beaten sensei's pinched face relaxed and Haku looked down at the victorious genin with a gentle, heartfelt smile. "Well done, Naruto," offered Haku. "And I appreciate that you didn't hit me."

Naruto's expression sank. "Why should I?" he grumbled in disappointment, his expression curdling sourly. "You're just another dumb water-clone."

The four mud-drenched Naruto clones grunted in surprise, looked questioningly at their master then at their prisoner who spared him a demure grin.

"True enough," it chuckled then abruptly gushed apart and flowed into the mud which suddenly froze solid, trapping the four clones that stood knee-deep in it. Only the original had the presence to hop away before being similarly snared.

* * *

**Haku**

At the shoreline on the other side of the ring-shaped trench, Haku crouched on his heels and couldn't help but laugh lightly. "Well, Naruto," he observed as he looked over at his adversary in good-natured amusement, "it seems as if last night's conversation gave you a fairly complete report of MY tricks as well."

"Huh," grunted the bruised and mud-splattered blond. "Yeah, seems that way to me too."

"So what gave me away?"

Naruto shook his head. "That was WAY too easy. Plus I already told you about how I beat Neji by hiding underground."

Haku shrugged and nodded.

"So," the blond inquired pointedly, bending his knees and lowering his shoulders; eyes flashing like sapphire flames, "You ready to go AGAIN?"

The taller ninja rose smoothly and replied with gracious delight: "Why not."

Naruto, undaunted, rushed Haku who smiled at the genin's sheer indefatigability. But there was an element of strategy there too that he appreciated: to close the distance so his opponent wouldn't have time to execute a jutsu which, of course, was easier said than done. The smaller ninja tore in with a flurry of punches. Haku evaded deftly, sidestepping and getting the range so that when Naruto punched again, Haku sliced across with his knuckles up and grazed under the blonde's funny bone.

Naruto winced then his eyes popped as his left arm fell limply to his side, paralyzed.

_My turn,_ thought Haku who shot forward with a double jumping kick that attacked high and low to distract and set-up for the spinning wheel kick that followed to the now defenseless left side of Naruto's head.

But the leaf-ninja ducked under the blow then, instead of backing away, charged…leading with his left side!

Haku didn't have time to be mystified but threw the edge of his palm straight at Naruto's exposed face then hastily pulled back as the blond grit his teeth, lowered his chin and thrust the upper part of his forehead **into** the blow. The taller ninja sputtered, not having expected Naruto to head-butt his hand!

The genin followed up with a lunging overhand right that grazed Haku's chin. The startled teenager began to backpedal but not quickly enough as Naruto flipped in mid-air, throwing himself completely over so that the back of his heel came down with sledgehammer force onto Haku's shoulder.

For a second, the ninja's vision speckled with pin-prick flashes of light and dark as the force of the blow dropped him to his knees. Haku, from sheer reflex, fell back onto his opposite outstretched hand then kicked up, with one leg following the other, into a one-handed somersault then took another jump away to get some distance – enough, he hoped, so he could recover. Once again underestimating Naruto, even if it was only his capacity to surprise, had proved to be a mistake.

Haku grimaced as he rubbed his swelling shoulder, very pleasantly surprised to find that his clavicle wasn't broken. Breathing deeply to fire his chakra, the ninja took a high, mobile stance then unfurled his arms like a crane's graceful wings; his features settling into a mask of determination.

Naruto, for his part, smiled with lusty confidence as he shook his left hand to life then charged again, but before he closed his expression shifted and the yellow-haired ninja slowed to a stop almost right in front of Haku and dropped his hands.

The puzzled Haku's brow furrowed as he too stopped. "What?"

"Hey, I'm…I'm really sorry," Naruto explained in a plaintive tone between ragged breaths. "I didn't mean it."

Haku stood at-ease, gave an askance glance, then touched the side of his head. Inspecting his fingertip, the ninja found a thin residue of blood from where the sole of Naruto's boot had cut him.

_Sloppy,_ he couldn't help but think.

Naruto glanced up at him, away then back again. "'You ok?" the blond ventured meekly.

"Hmm?" Haku replied. "Yes, Naruto, I'm fine, really."

The genin nodded as an anxious smile came to his face. "Sorry about that. I guess I got carried away."

"No, no, I'm as much at fault for being careless," the taller teenager demurred then, seeing that Naruto was still concerned, added: "I'm not as delicate as I appear, you know."

Naruto's expression flickered hopefully.

"You're not going to make me hit you with another snowball, are you?" teased Haku, but he was only trying to reassure him that he wasn't mad.

The blue-eyed leaf-ninja's face pinched. "You do," he declared, "and I'll fling something back…and it WON'T be a snowball!"

Haku's eyes widened in alarm, a mix of real and exaggerated, then he raised his open hands in surrender and grinned. A fight was one thing, but he wasn't about to take on the king of pranks at his own game. He'd already pushed his luck enough as it was.

Seeing a break in the action, a mud-encrusted Chuuya skipped up to the two ninjas. "That was SLAMMIN'! EPIC! Even if we couldn't see most of it," he crowed then mimicked a sloppy but spirited approximation of some of the moves he'd seen, trying out a flurry of punches, kicks and jutsu hand seals. "When can I learn cool moves like that? I wanna start with the Rasengan!"

Naruto snickered then rubbed a whisker-marked cheek. "I don't know, Chuuya. It's really, really hard to learn, and you need a LOT of chakra."

"One thing at a time," Haku added in a chastening voice. "You need to be able to do the Transformation Jutsu first, and even your Cannon-Fist is far from perfect."

"Aw, Sensei!"

* * *

The four made their way back to the trail with Chuuya and Naruto out front talking happily away, and Haku and Inari trailing behind.

"Is something wrong, Inari?" asked Haku at last, feeling the boy's eyes hard upon him.

Inari drew closer and Haku could see the conflicted anger in his student's frowning face. "Sensei," he began in a troubled tone, "why did you want to fight Naruto again, especially after everything that happened last time?"

"I'm the Demon's Apprentice…maybe I like to fight."

Tazuna's grandson gaped for a second. "Sensei, I'm SERIOUS!"

Haku chided himself. He had no call to be flippant. Inari had truly hated him once for his part in trying to kill the boy's grandfather. For anyone so young, for anyone _period_, to be able to move past that to the level of trust and respect they shared now said a lot about who he was.

Like Tazuna, Inari was smart; like Naruto, he was greatly moved by emotions and took things to heart. Seeing two people he cared about a lot fighting each other had to be painful for him.

"We weren't fighting, Inari, only sparring," Haku explained. "It may have looked rough but in reality we both held back the worst of our techniques…Naruto much more than I."

Inari glared, unconvinced.

"Think about what you saw and what you didn't see: no weapons, wires or exploding notes. I didn't resort to my kekkei-genkai, well, not very much anyway, and Naruto…well, he was…he was far from going all-out."

Inari's dark eyes searched Haku's, wanting to believe. "I still don't see WHY."

Haku smiled. "It's a good way to learn how techniques work, which areas you're strong in and which need to improve, gaps in your training. For instance, I learned that I'm still susceptible to unorthodox attacks. And I think Naruto learned how to cope better fighting when he cannot see. I hope so anyway," he said as if to himself. "You see, Inari, it's far better that we learn from each other than from someone who really intends us harm.

"I hope," the ninja added, "that you will adopt that outlook as part of your training, especially with Chuuya. As the youngest brother he's learned to compensate for a lack of relative size and strength with ferocity which he sometimes unleashes on you out of habit. Understand though, he does truly think of you as a friend and would be horrified at the thought of doing you any real harm."

Inari's brow furrowed. He seemed to understand the explanation even if he didn't completely like it or only half-believed it.

Haku looked ahead at Naruto who chatted freely with Chuuya as if they'd been friends for years. The genin really did have a way with people, he considered. Though what he'd told Inari was the truth, what he'd said had only been a part of it. The ninja had decided, wisely he thought, to spare his student the psychodrama of how he'd wanted to know for certain if either he or Naruto still harbored any grudge against the other from their for-real fight eight months earlier. Haku had figured that any lingering animosity would surely have come out during the heat of battle; that the emotional energy of their chakra would convey the content of their hearts to each other. What he'd confirmed was that Naruto's generous and forgiving nature really was all it seemed and more.

Of course Haku hadn't doubted that, not really. This test had been for himself.

Zabuza's angry words, forever etched in his memory, upbraided him fiercely for his soft heart once again. But the criticisms that might have lanced him before only fell away now for he was no longer The Demon's Apprentice…just Haku. Maybe having a soft heart and caring about those precious to you wasn't part of the shinobi way but somehow, the teenager felt he could live with that.

_After all,_ thought the ninja with a smile_, it's working out ok so far._

* * *

_Thoughts, comments, questions, suggestions? Please review. All are appreciated ;)_

_Thanks for reading,_

_--Jonohex_


	13. Snow Angels Part 5

_Hi again, and welcome back :D_

_--Jonohex_

* * *

**Naruto**

With his hands in his pockets, Naruto Uzumaki followed the lonely, lamp-lit, Wave Country streets to the bridge that carried his name and from there on to the forest-bounded shoreline road that lead back to Tazuna's house. Twice the yellow-haired boy was stopped by civilian constables, curious as to what a kid that young was doing alone and at such a late hour, but was quickly and happily sent on -- one group recognizing him as a guest of Constable Okame's while the other recognized him for who he was, those officers having been a part of the hastily-formed militia that had faced down Gato's gang of killers at the first battle at the bridge.

_This place is alright,_ Naruto mused, summing up his experiences as he took a deep breath of the night air. _Yeah, I think I see why Haku likes it here. Kinda wish I could stay longer._

The young ninja's thoughts turned then toward his new friend who was actually the very first friend he'd ever had despite that they hadn't met under the best of circumstances. Naruto had lots of friends, _now_ anyway, but he hadn't had any then and none since like Haku – someone he could just hang out, go places and do things with. Haku was just so…so _different_ too. Not just in the obvious ways like with the way he looked, acted, or having been Zabuza's apprentice, but that he didn't get mad at all the things Naruto did and said that usually made everyone else mad. Really, it was even a little bit _scary_ how well they got along. But with him, it was like the young ninja didn't have to be anything but who he was…which was a good feeling and kind of nice for a change.

The boy's shoulders shook as he snickered, remembering their sparring match. Haku, with his speed, cleverness, experience and bloodline, certainly had a style that would test just about anyone. Rock Lee, Naruto's usual training partner, never failed to put up a spirited fight that always left the blonde's body bruised and aching. But sparring Haku had left his BRAIN aching!

_I wonder if that means I'm getting smarter?_ Naruto wondered, yellow brow lifted in thought. _Maybe I'm taking after him. But then again,_ the ninja's blue eyes narrowed craftily, _the way he hit me with a snowball, maybe HE'S taking after ME._

Naruto chuckled at the idea. _Who'd have thought!_

After their match, Naruto had joined Haku for dinner over at the Tezukas' humble, slightly ramshackle house and was astonished at just how many of them there were – five brothers (with Chuuya the youngest), Mari the only sister, their parents and then two little babies they were taking care of. It took awhile for the young ninja to believe that Haku was really living here among them; almost as long as it took for them to believe that he was THE Naruto Uzumaki from eight months ago, the hero of the first battle at the bridge.

_What's wrong with people here anyway? _considered Naruto, piqued and scowling with indignation. _How come they always think it couldn't POSSIBLY be me when they meet me?!_

But Haku's adoptive family was all nice enough, except for Jimon maybe. He was kind of a douche but maybe it was just the way he came off. Some people were like that.

* * *

Retiring to Haku's basement room later on after dinner, Naruto galloped down the stairs only to stop short and gasp.

"HEY! You got your own bunny-rabbit!" he exulted happily at the sight, blue eyes sparkling. The boy rushed over and pressed his excited, peach-colored, whisker-marked face against the placid creature's cage. _"That's so COOL what's his name can I pet him?!"_

The taller ninja was more than happy to indulge his guest, then later introduced Naruto to a simple game played with tiles called 'dominoes' which, Haku explained, had recently become popular in Wave Country.

"So," ventured Naruto as they began to play, squinting as he looked around at the bare wood joists above, the freshly painted concrete-block walls then the odd personal touches that livened the otherwise Spartan accommodations – stacks of books arranged neatly in homemade shelves, calligraphic scrolls and some surrealist paintings which, Haku had explained, had been given to him by Mari's uncle. "You _really_ live here now, huh?"

Haku glanced at the boy then smirked at the obtuse but conversational question as he lay down his tile. "I told you I did."

"Well, yeah, but, I mean…I guess I always took you for more of a loner type or at least not the kind who'd live with so _many_ people."

The slender shinobi nodded, conceding the point. "I suppose I would be if the choice had been mine and fate had not thrown me into the Tezukas' company."

Naruto played his turn then rested his cheek on a palm, only half-attentive to the game. "I've lived alone all my life; that's pretty much what I'm used to," he muttered softly. "But, including you, there's like a dozen people here!" The young ninja leaned forward with wide-eyed curiosity. "What's it like?"

Haku hummed as he thought about it, smiled tightly then rolled his slate-colored eyes. "A _constant_ battle," he droned half-jokingly.

"What do you mean?"

"Just what I said."

"But a battle over what?"

"You name it and they --," he paused, "I suppose I should say _we_ now_,_ have fought over it at one time or another," explained the teenager with a grin, "time, space, food, quiet, the shower, the toilet, attention, hurt feelings, words poorly chosen…or poorly timed. You'd be amazed. I'm only a border here, a paying guest basically, but even I find myself involved in the never-ending dramas and conflicts. It's as if I were a sixth brother sometimes."

"Really?!" the blond guest piped then barked a laugh. "HA! That's so funny – you a big brother!"

Haku shared Naruto's mirth then hesitantly put down a domino as if only because he felt that he'd left it neglected for too long. "Oh, they were all _quite_ well-behaved towards me for a few days after they'd first learned I was a ninja, except for Jimon of course, but after that I was just some guy wearing a headband," he intoned with melodramatic heartbreak, "standing in line to use the bathroom with everyone else."

A smile spread over Naruto's face and he cocked his yellow-haired head. "So maybe being an orphan's not so bad after all."

"There are advantages, I think." The teenager's face tilted in thought before he ventured: "But living here has been a great comfort to me too and something of an education." His calm eyes drifted toward Naruto's then down to the tiles. "The first seven years of my life were spent as an only child in a desolate little Water Country village. The next eight were as Zabuza's disciple – an almost monastic life to be sure. My days were filled with training and study, with only intermittent contact with anyone else, tutors mostly.

"To be honest," the black-haired ninja reflected, "after my master's death, I have no doubt that it was a great benefit for me to be surrounded by so many distractions and not left to dwell. Alone, I might have been content to languish until my wounds took me. Forsaking food, I might have starved."

Haku took up another domino and flipped it distractedly but expertly between his dexterous fingers. "That's not to say," he continued, gesturing smartly with the tile, "that being an 'honorary Tezuka' is easy, especially for me. Without exaggerating I can tell you I've seen them all act selfishly, cruelly and even violently towards each other at times in ways that, to my solitary upbringing, I find quite shocking. To be honest, I myself have had my patience and temper sorely tested. But I've also seen how they care for and look after each other." Haku paused and looked up thoughtfully then waved away an unvoiced notion before he concluded in a wistful tone: "For whatever reason, their expressions of love tend to be more subtle."

* * *

Alone on the road back to Tazuna's seaside home, Naruto stopped as he remembered those resonant words. With them, the image of his former teammate came unbidden to mind.

"Sasuke," he muttered plaintively though he hadn't meant to.

He'd often heard it said that faces fade in people's memory over time, but _everything _about HIM was still clear – the sneer, the hair, the arrogant attitude and, of course, the eyes. The idea of the Uchiha being in Orochimaru's hands -- being his disciple, being the sannin's future _body_ burned inside the young ninja.

As Naruto thought about it, Haku's remarks about his new family sure described how he and Sasuke used to get along / used to NOT get along.

_'Listen, Naruto,'_ the blond remembered Shikamaru (of all people) saying once, pointedly and frankly, in a rare moment where he'd seemed to feel obligated to dispense personal advice. In its immediate aftermath, the failed mission to retrieve Sasuke had left him a little shaken up. _'You should forget about him. I don't like Sasuke joining Orochimaru either but he's made his choice.'_ The pony-tailed chunin could be awfully serious sometimes when he wasn't slacking. His ebon eyes flickered then as if he hated the sucky chore of having to be the one to explain this: _'Sasuke went willingly, with his eyes open. You know that, right? He wasn't kidnapped; he wasn't tricked. He knows exactly what he stands to gain and --.' _The ninja had broken it off there, not that he had to say the rest – that Sasuke knew what he would lose too.

_It doesn't matter,_ Naruto resolved just as determinedly now as he had then. He would **never** give up on getting Sasuke back. _Maybe our bond IS broken, but it doesn't matter._ The ninja's sapphire eyes rose toward the path ahead. _That it ever existed in the first place still means something to me. And that's enough!_

* * *

Earlier that night in Haku's room, with their comically-slow game of dominoes still unfinished even after hours, Naruto yawned, looked up at the black that waited beyond the high, shallow, basement windows then sighed and hung his head.

"Aw, MAN!" he lamented and gave Haku a pained, mournful look. "I better get going."

The taller ninja nodded charitably. "I know," he replied, himself tired, "you have to leave for Konohagakure in the morning." Haku gave his friend a fond smile. "I got the impression that it is most unwise to keep Lady Tsunade waiting."

Naruto almost gagged at the extremity of the understatement then made a face. "Yeah, THAT'S for sure. Granny'll KILL me if I'm late."

The two trudged upstairs then out onto the porch where the young genin squirmed awkwardly in the cool, night air. "Sorry," he muttered, unable to meet Haku's eyes, "it's just that…I really, really HATE goodbyes."

The black-haired shinobi nodded with understanding. "It doesn't have to be right now. Why don't we put it off until the morning?" he offered. "I'll come by the bridge and see you off then."

Naruto, his somber mood instantly illuminated, grinned widely as if that was the best thing ever said. "Sounds good!" he cheered then hopped down the steps to the short walkway that emptied out onto the street. "I'll see ya' tomorrow!"

Haku followed him, a strange sort of concern evident on his face.

The blond looked at him askance. "Don't worry about me. I know the way back to Tazuna's."

"Maybe I should go with you," the teenager all but insisted.

"Huh?" grunted the blond. "No way, you'd just have to come all the way back."

The older ninja paused for kind of an unusually long time before he acquiesced. "Alright then," Haku allowed then added: "but be careful though, won't you? Despite our best efforts, the streets can be quite dangerous at times after dark."

The boy's blue eyes widened a little at the strange warning but he answered with a flash of self-assured grin, "Aw, come-on, Haku. I'm pretty sure I can handle myself. It'll take a lot more than a couple of bandits to take ME down, y'know?!"

The teenager regarded him uncertainly for a moment but nodded. The two then exchanged warm smiles and a brief wave before Haku headed back inside.

* * *

**Haku**

Pausing behind the closed door, the black-haired teenager tapped his chin lightly with a forefinger then went downstairs to his room where he stripped off his clothes and changed into mist-ninja fatigues with businesslike deliberation, making sure his quivers of senbon were full and the rest of his equipment secure and in place.

Grabbing his jutte and a paper lantern, Haku sped up the stairs but was brought up short by Mari who was making her way down.

"Are you," the freckle-faced girl queried in disbelief, "are you going out again…_now?_"

The ninja only smiled sheepishly.

"Another fight?"

While Haku searched for a delicate way to phrase his answer, Mari rolled her eyes in disgust, stepped out of the way and gestured grandly for him to pass. "Ninjas!" she blurted disparagingly.

* * *

**Naruto**

_Y'know, things really turned out alright for Haku,_ considered Naruto as he strolled slowly and looked up at the moon glowing brightly through the trees. _He's got a job, friends, a family, even a real girlfriend._

Although that last part made him chafe a little at his own relative lack of success in regard to Sakura, Naruto was genuinely happy for his friend, knowing what he'd been through since Zabuza's death. The young leaf-ninja had seen enough in his short life too to know that things didn't always turn out that way and not all stories had happy endings.

Continuing on, hoping he wouldn't get back to Tazuna's house TOO late, Naruto gasped suddenly in surprise as a surge of hateful intent impinged upon his senses, driving into his consciousness like a spike. The calming, ambient sounds of the forest at night that had accompanied him on his walk thus far ceased sharply. Coming to a stumbling stop, blurs of motion like flitting insects whirred right in front of the young ninja's face, flashing deadly silver in the moonlight.

"Ow!" the boy winced, feeling the sting as one of the flashes cut him across the bridge of the nose.

At a building pressure in his mind, Naruto dropped down, rolled backwards, pushed off his hands, landed then sprang high into the treetops' concealing foliage. Unseen motion whizzed after him, nicking his skin and cutting through the leaves around him, the hem of his t-shirt, the rolled-up cuffs of his pants and through his crown of yellow hair. In desperation the genin leaped, scrambling evasively from branch to branch in the darkness, then used his chakra to latch on to an older tree's thick trunk and swung himself behind it as a staccato rhythm of harsh impacts followed in his wake.

Risking a peek to try and catch a glimpse of his assailant, Naruto could see nothing but the inky shapes and shadows of the forest at night…nothing but a trio of gleaming senbon sticking from the face of the tree.

The blonde's sapphire eyes went wide with shock as the sick feeling of betrayal pulsed in the pit of his stomach.

_Haku?_ he thought reflexively at the sight, teeth and fists clenching. _NO! It couldn't be; it just couldn't be!_

Summoning shadow clones and sending them scattering in different directions, the genin vaulted higher into the tree canopy but a fusillade of senbon brought him to a stop. All around him his clones vanished in bursts of chakra, having been stitched by wave after wave of steel needles. Naruto dropped back down to a thick branch, sent a pulse of chakra into his feet then launched himself towards another tree as more senbon whirred past. All the while, impinging upon his consciousness, his attacker's hatred for him seemed to radiate from the darkness like the rays of a black sun.

Still in mid-flight, scant inches from the next tree, long needles pierced into his shoulder blade, arm and hand, drawing a grunt of pain from the ninja who missed his landing then went plunging – down into the dark and, with it now, the swirling, enveloping embrace of a jutsu-conjured mist.

_This -- this CAN'T be Haku, _thought Naruto as he fell, moisture beading on his face and seeping into his clothes; the wind whipping through his golden hair on his way to the ground. _Haku's my friend!_

As the mist swallowed the young ninja up, a fearful part of him answered: _You mean like __Sasuke__? Wasn't HE your friend too?_

_It's NOT HIM!_ Naruto reaffirmed in his mind almost desperately as he turned blindly in mid-air, landed on all-fours then bolted away barely in time to avoid another barrage of razor-pointed spines which he heard pepper the ground and stick hard in the bark of the tree behind him.

Just like from his match with Haku, Naruto was forced to shut his eyes and reach out with his chakra through the mist-choked darkness. Almost immediately he sensed the man rushing toward him, completely silent in the blinding fog. Ducking down, the genin heard and felt the wind lash over his head as his assailant's weapon swept by – a sword maybe, or a staff.

"You're quicker than I remember," a voice of pure arrogance noted fiercely, barely inches away. "But it won't save you."

Though the blond only barely recognized it, the threat arrived in the young ninja's ears like a miracle – a choir of angels! It was definitely NOT Haku…which made a lot of sense when he thought about it because, when it came to senbon, Haku would not have missed.

Inspired by the relief he felt washing over him and using the very techniques Haku himself had shown him about fighting someone while blind, Naruto dodged again then rolled away as powerful swipes sought to connect. The boy jumped as the stranger he was just starting to place swung at his knees, then spun aside as the man thrust. Blocking hard, the genin felt his tensed forearms connect with what he guessed now was the ninja's _umbrella_ – metal struts wrapped in fabric around a stout, wooden pole.

"You DO remember me, don't you?"

Naruto sprang, clearing the man's next swing, then ducked as the following attack transitioned high. "I remember," growled the blond. "You're that guy, that TRAITOR who tried to kill Idate."

"Assuredly, I would have," countered the voice in the misty darkness, "had I not trusted too much in that worthless Raijin Sword. I should have realized that Konoha's artifacts would be no better than its shinobi."

Naruto might have spat out a laugh if he weren't so insulted as well as under attack. "That's how YOU remember it, huh?"

Wary for the rain-ninja's move, the genin reached through the mist until his fingers found rough-textured bark. When next his adversary swung, Naruto stepped aside to let the tree intercept the blow with a resounding crack. Stomping down on the weapon, trapping it momentarily and using it as a springboard, the ninja leaped off and kicked through where he sensed the man's head was then leaped away.

Though he felt the reward of impact through his foot and heard his enemy grunt from the blow, Naruto remembered this guy wasn't exactly slow.

Gritting his teeth, the boy landed then put his hands together for a jutsu but a blast of wind struck him before he could complete it, sending him flying over the forest floor until the interruption of a tree stopped him hard; branches shook and leaves scattered into the air at the bark-splintering impact. Crying out, Naruto fell stunned and breathless to the ground, unable to rise when he tried to push himself up on trembling limbs.

The surge of wind had parted the mist down a ragged channel, the edges of which glowed ghostly in the moonlight. In the center of it, conspicuously athletic in a blue and grey skin-tight bodysuit, a tall figure stepped; open umbrella in hand. The ninja folded it smartly then rested it over his shoulder as he approached.

"My failure to secure the Todoroki Shrine Race was an unendurable humiliation," he sneered. "Your village's 'fabled' weapon failed me, as did my worthless subordinates. So I left Amegakure to find my path elsewhere, and who should I find along the way but YOU."

As the man's dark shape paced forward implacably, Naruto's eyes rose toward Aoi Rokusho's imperious face. Though much was the same from the last time they'd met in the Land of Tea, many of the particulars had changed. His hair, the color of green flagstone, was longer now and not as well-kept. His handsome, almost pretty, face was leaner and bore the haggard edge that came from hard living, and though his clothing, more of a dive-skin than anything like typical ninja fatigues, was the same deep blue split with grey down the center, it had faded at the knees and elbows and was marked by cuts and punctures in places that had required mending.

All-in-all, it didn't seem as if the life of a fugitive mercenary had been very kind to him.

"You were lucky before, brat! And I have no doubt that you profited from my misfortune," hissed Aoi in petulant abandon; his ringed, violet eyes blazing. "But it looks like destiny has favored me with the opportunity to put an end to you once and for all for your interference. Look around, Uzumaki," he gestured wide, "this forest is where you DIE!"

* * *

**Aoi**

Casting his umbrella high into the air, the jonin's hands flew through a series of seals. "Ninja art," he cried, "Thousand Sprinkling Needles!" As it continued to rise, Aoi's weapon snapped fully open and began to spin faster and faster until it was just a blur. Senbon flashed then by the hundreds, sinking into Naruto's body from head to toe.

The renegade ninja's face lit with glee as he cast mad laughter to the heavens…until the blond ninja vanished suddenly in mid-collapse, revealing in its stead a gnarl of fallen branches.

"Hey, nice speech, Aoi!" Naruto's brassy, sarcastic voice echoed from the treetops behind as the former rain-ninja's eyes went wide. "But now let me see if I got this straight," the genin continued, this time from ahead. "You BETRAYED the Leaf Village because THEY weren't good enough for you. Then you _ran away_ from the Rain Village because YOU weren't good enough for THEM! You say the sword you stole was worthless and so was your team but I guess it's MY fault TOO what happened to you. Well guess what – I think you're right!"

Aoi cast his eyes frantically for the leaf-ninja as his umbrella floated back down to his awaiting hand which snatched it out of the air. But he didn't have to search any longer than that for his opponent as Naruto leaped down to a lower branch to face him.

"Oh, but the BEST part is," cried _another_ Naruto who the rain-ninja whirled to confront, "now you're here in Wave Country, three months later --."

"Without your fancy lightning sword --," said a third, leaning against a tree.

"Without your teammates --," continued a fourth, sitting with arms folded on a high branch.

"No village and no friends --," supplied a fifth.

"Using the same tired jutsu you used last time --," mocked a sixth.

"And SOMEHOW you expect to beat me now --," barked a seventh who was part of a much larger group taking position.

"When you couldn't beat me then?!" concluded the last of a contingent of several dozens scattered all around.

As Aoi snarled, his expression boiling at the leaf-ninja's taunts, Narutos burst from the depths of the dark treetops and attacked in a seemingly-endless stream of yellow-haired fury. Rather than retreat, the mercenary made a stand and flailed away at the ninja army, using his umbrella as a staff. Despite the truth of what Naruto had said, the man was still a jonin. Aoi's weapon whirled and slashed, smashing through three and four of the leaf-ninja's shadow-clones at a time.

Seeing a window of opportunity and popping his umbrella open, the former rain-ninja made to fly off but was quickly grounded as mobs of blond ninjas grabbed his legs to weigh him down. Dispensing with them in droves with furious swipes of his weapon and waves of senbon, Aoi unfurled his umbrella again and blasted a swath through the swarm with a summoned wind. Clones flew in every direction, with scores of them bursting apart from the force.

Aoi spun then, looking around hatefully into the ring of ninjas that surrounded him still. "You see!?" he observed lordly. "I don't need any Raijin Sword, any teammates or anyone else to get in my way. Though it's a pity I don't have any more of Amegakure's special poisons, I'll still smash my way through however many clones you can make and THEN take my time making sure you get the slow and painful death you deserve."

A rising breeze stirred the night air and the lone ninja straightened at an unpleasantly familiar sound. Turning around, Aoi saw that one of the Narutos had stepped forward from the others, concentrating, in the palm of his hand with the assistance of one of his doubles, a sphere of racing wind and bright, blue chakra energy.

* * *

**Naruto**

"You asked me before if I remembered you," said Naruto, glaring angrily. "Oh, I remember, all right. I remember how much you like to HURT people; how they mean _nothing_ to you."

Aoi rested the end of his umbrella on the ground and gave the boy a disdainful smirk. "Do you really imagine I'll let you get close enough to use that technique on me again?" he asked with apparent calm but then screeched suddenly, frothing, face reddening with choleric rage: "DO YOU THINK I LEARNED NOTHING FROM LAST TIME?!"

With a bestial roar, Naruto surged toward the jonin, his Rasengan ready while Aoi brought up his weapon, ready to strike. As the racing genin drew near, the one-time rain-ninja sidestepped and lashed out but the boy leaped fully away at the last moment.

A dozen clones seized their opening then, pouring on punches and kicks at the distracted Aoi in an all-out assault.

"You're going to do it _all_ alone, _all_ by yourself!" shouted Naruto in a mocking tone as he ran around the clearing where Aoi battled the leaf-ninja's doubles. The blonde's Rasengan, and with it all the destructive powers of a hurricane compressed into the palm of his hand, bit through a tree with a shower of splinters and bark as he sped past. "Maybe that was me too, ONE time, but I've learned to depend on my friends and learn from them like they learn from me," he continued loudly, cleaving through two more. "I work my ASS off training and my friends help me along the way. These last three months I've only gotten stronger; I think I actually got stronger TODAY."

Aoi, still surrounded, struggled to try and keep track of the original as the racing figure circled wide in a blur of motion in the darkness.

"What have YOU done every day in the last three months since we met," the question rang through the night, "besides complain and blame everybody else for your problems?!"

The former ninja of leaf and rain startled as the trees all around him lurched then started to fall. Naruto's clones, all as determined as their master, prosecuted the attack even harder heedless of the danger either from Aoi or the tons of lumber careening down at them. Unlike Aoi, they had no lives to lose.

With clones hanging off his shoulders and hips, the ninja tried to jump away but collided headlong into a tangle of branches, boughs and curtains of leaves. Clones burst all around as the falling trees crashed down in a riot of snapping, splintering wood but mobs of fresh Narutos swarmed up from the sidelines or leaped down from the remaining trees, having waited for this moment. Hands grabbed at Aoi's arms and legs, locking him in place as the real Naruto sprang at him, that orb of wind and chakra clutched in his tensed hand.

"You're THROUGH, Aoi!" roared Naruto as he struck, "RASENGAN!"

* * *

Staring hard down the tunnel of destruction the passage of Aoi's body had created during its explosive expulsion from the battlefield, Naruto gathered himself, wiped his sweat and dew-drenched brow with a bare arm then sat crouched on his heels amidst the forest's carpet of leaves. When the blond boy's panting breaths had calmed and his heartbeat slowed, all was quiet once again.

After a few moments, the ninja rose and took stock of his surroundings. In all the commotion, he'd pretty much forgotten which way the road was and was more or less lost…in the woods, alone, at night, with no compass, flare, food, water, flashlight or equipment of any kind.

"Aw, great!" he moped in the darkness, throwing his cerulean eyes toward the star-speckled heavens then letting them fall. "Just great."

Naruto glanced around uncertainly, searching for direction, squinted and was surprised, or rather, _mystified_, to find a faint, warm glow beckoning from not too far away. Curious and cautious, the genin set toward it then emerged after only a few minutes walk back onto the shoreline road where a slender, uniformed figure awaited carrying a paper lantern slung from a long pole.

"H-Haku?!" the boy marveled in a squeaky voice, blue eyes widening as he stared at the constable. Naruto shielded his eyes as he came closer into the pool of the ninja's lamplight. "What – what are _you_ doing out here?"

The black-haired teenager rested the butt of his lantern on the ground and remarked with a sanguine lilt, "What kind of constable would I be if I didn't go on my rounds, Naruto."

The young leaf-ninja blinked, nonplussed. "I, uh," he stuttered at last, "I guess that makes sense."

"What were you doing out there in the forest?" returned Haku with interest, eyebrow raised inquisitively as he noted the boy's minor wounds; his damp and punctured clothing. "Any trouble?"

"No," said Naruto after a moment of fruitless thought, "no trouble; nothing I couldn't handle." Regaining his confidence, the young leaf-ninja's expression returned to his usual carefree grin. "Just a stray dog is all."

The constable regarded him with a concerned, professional air. "Oh, sorry about that," he offered. "I'll tell animal control about it tomorrow. In the meantime, Tazuna's house isn't far. You can make it the rest of the way, can't you?"

"Sure…I; sure."

Haku smiled then bowed politely, swung his lantern around and walked slowly away, headed back towards town.

Naruto stood and watched the ninja go, expression puzzled as it occurred to him just how very, VERY unfathomable and unlikely it was for Haku to just _happen_ to show up like he did when he did.

The genin's eyes narrowed to slits as he started to think about it. _Did he KNOW Aoi was going to try and kill me?_ he wondered, breath quickening, frown deepening. _Was THAT why he was acting so weird when I left his house?_

Amidst the murmur of the forest at night and the wind's soft rustle through the trees, Naruto crossed his arms and brooded – a statue standing in the darkness in the middle of the road.

_So why didn't he help?_ his simmering thoughts condensed suddenly around the single, crucial question but then, in a flash of insight, so did the answer: _'Cause he knew you didn't need any, stupid._

Naruto's expression blanked as all the remaining pieces fell comfortably into place. "But he came anyway," the yellow-haired genin muttered to himself in a reverent voice then swallowed breathlessly, "just to make sure."

There was something about the strange subtle complexity here, an elusive nuance he might just as easily have missed that touched him deeply.

"Hey! Okame!" he cried at the constable's back, expression quivering. "You're still coming tomorrow, you know, to see me off, right?!"

Haku turned, lantern swaying as he did. "Of course," the ninja chimed firmly in reply then grinned. "I wouldn't miss it for anything in the world."

Naruto, warmed by the sound of his friend's voice, his simple, encouraging words, returned a wide smile, turned then sprinted away.

* * *

**Haku**

"So you ended up NOT getting in a fight last night," Mari summarized as she walked beside Haku on the way to the Great Naruto Bridge, her fingers playing absently with the jade ring necklace from Konoha the ninja had given her. The idea struck her as almost alien and her expression showed it. "That's gotta be a first."

"Indeed," offered Haku in a casual air, "Naruto was able to deal with the ninja stalking him just fine without my assistance."

The freckled, black-haired girl nodded then hummed insightfully. "I can see why you like him. The little guy's kinda weird but he's a lotta fun too; he kinda _grows_ on you after awhile." She cast an approving upward look. "I'm glad you guys finally got a chance to hang out."

Haku smiled back then returned nods and greetings from some passers-by.

"So, ok," ventured Mari, "I know I keep bringing this up but I still don't get how a shrimpy little ninja like him beat YOU eight months ago, beat that jonin wack-job he fought last night and got to be such a big deal."

"Few of his virtues are apparent at first glance," the teenager attempted to explain, his fair-complexioned face almost glowing in the rays of the morning sun. "But you have to understand, Naruto works very hard, has inexhaustible resolve as well as a deep commitment to his dream of being Hokage. He's also had some excellent teachers, good friends," he donned then an expression of extreme cleverness, "and some opponents who've brought out the best in him."

Mari made a face right back then bumped his shoulder. "Oh, ha-ha," the girl answered then fell serious. "But there's something else too," she added knowingly, "isn't there."

The constable drew in a cautious breath. Being that you could only talk around a subject for so long before the act in itself shined a spotlight on it, her question was a long time in coming. Haku treasured her and trusted her enough to tell her almost anything, which made those few descriptive gaps in his narratives stand out that much more. The Kyuubi was most _definitely _one of those gaps.

"It's not for me to reveal his secrets, even to you," he answered frankly as he knew she preferred. "But I will tell you that Naruto has received a…a _special_ sort of gift, making him possibly the most powerful ninja I have ever met."

Mari's eyes widened. Gradually, she reigned in her expression as she mulled over Haku's answer. "I was going to say 'you GOT to be kidding' but I guess you're not." The girl glanced at him. "Really?" she couldn't help but question anyway, "The most powerful ninja you ever met'? Naruto?"

Haku nodded then looked out towards the docks and beyond them to the sea channel beyond which lay the shores of Fire Country. "I'm Sorry, Mari. I know you're skeptical about most everything that relates to my profession, and my explanation, such as it was, was more than a little vague."

The girl shook her head. "Since we started hanging out I've seen some pretty unbelievable things. And you've already told me probably like a thousand times that things aren't always what they seem. Still, it's hard to imagine that little blond kid being THAT powerful – I mean," she gestured dramatically, "he's no older than Ryuunosuke!"

"Despite that, I worry for him," said Haku in a distant voice, remembering Naruto's vow to free Sasuke; his grudge against Orochimaru. "These are dangerous times for Konoha, and Naruto tends to act so, so _rashly_."

Mari shot him a sideways look then blew out a breath. "THIS morsel of wisdom from the guy who tried to kill the Mizukage."

The ninja shrugged, forced to acknowledge her point. Looking up at Wave Country's cityscape, the bustling work crews, construction scaffolds and towering cranes, he ventured weakly: "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Heh!" piped Mari who was not about to let the boy off the hook. "You mean because Zabuza told you to," she chastised then folded her arms. "It's ridiculous that you'd let anyone have THAT kind of power over you…unless it's ME of course."

Haku couldn't help but smile at her teasing. "I exist to be a tool in your hand," the teenager replied smoothly, "a weapon at your side to use as you see fit, Master Mari."

"OoOOoo," she chimed with delight and slid an arm around her boyfriend's waist, "I never thought I'd say this but there might actually be something I like about all this ninja stuff after all!"

* * *

Drawing closer to the portals of the Great Naruto Bridge, Haku's eyes searched out the familiar shapes of Naruto, Inari and Chuuya, along with Tazuna and Tsunami.

The visiting leaf-ninja noticed them at once and started waving, bouncing up and down like a blond lemur. "HEY, HIROO! MARI!" Naruto's pealing, excited cries split the air.

Mari leaned toward Haku, whispering: "You _did_ say 'the most powerful ninja you ever met' didn't you?"

Haku grinned at the apparent discrepancy and nodded subtlety in confirmation. "You may not believe this," he whispered back, "but I don't think that power could be in better hands."

Again, Mari shot him a look.

* * *

All together at last, everyone exchanged greetings and talked for awhile until no one could escape the fact that it was well past time for Naruto to go. Gathering into a semblance of a line, Tazuna and Naruto were the first to exchange bows then the old engineer thumped the boy solidly and reassuringly on the arm.

"Take care, Naruto," he offered in his growling baritone. "It sure was great to see you again."

"You too," answered the genin who couldn't resist adding with a good-natured snicker: "old man!"

Tsunami too said her goodbyes then and kissed Naruto on the forehead at which the blond blushed shyly.

Naruto moved next toward Inari, who, like last time, heroically held back tears. The genin started to bow but the bridge-builder's grandson dispensed immediately with the formalities and went right into a hug, throwing his arms around the departing ninja. Naruto's expression melted as he returned the boy's embrace. After they parted, the blond bent over slightly to look Inari in the eyes.

"Hey, Inari," he advised supportively. "You've gotten really, really strong since last time. Keep it up, keep training and you'll be a real ninja in no time!"

Hardly able to speak, the black-haired boy in teal overalls bit his lip and nodded.

Looking around slyly, Naruto took Inari closer and whispered into his ear. The ninja rose then and the two bowed with admirable formality.

Chuuya, next in line, squirmed restlessly as Naruto stepped towards him, more upset at the genin's leaving than Haku, or anyone else probably, had thought. The former Demon's Apprentice watched the two exchange respectful bows right before the youngest Tezuka bowed even lower then pitched forward to deliver a surprisingly hard, mountain-goat-like head-butt to the blonde's tummy.

Naruto gasped and staggered back, deflated literally and almost doubled over, while Mari and Inari rained down abuse on Chuuya who rocked with laughter.

"What?" countered Chuuya, clearly hurt and misunderstood. "That's just how I say goodbye!"

"Oh, yeah?" Mari remonstrated fiercely, "well THIS is how I say you're an idiot!" Quick as a snake, the girl blasted her brother in the shoulder with a punishing one-knuckled punch that scraped straight down his arm after the initial impact.

"OW!" screeched Chuuya like he was on fire then tried to find sanctuary in Haku's shadow.

The shinobi sighed, shook his head then gave the boy a reproving look. "Manners, Chuuya," Haku offered wearily. "How do we say goodbye to people?"

Chuuya looked up blankly at his sensei, rubbing his arm. "Um," he started guiltily, "by not head-butting them?"

"Correct," replied Haku who finger-flicked the boy behind the earlobe.

"OW!" cried Chuuya again as he flinched away and clutched the side of his round head.

Mari went to the recovering Naruto and patted his shoulder. "Uh, sorry about that, Naruto," she offered tentatively, clearly embarrassed at her brother's antics. "Chuuya's a little silly sometimes."

"No…no problem," rasped the ninja as he slowly straightened.

"But it was really nice to meet you at last."

The young leaf-ninja gave her an awkward smile. "And you too, Mari. Hey, try and keep Haku out of trouble, will you?"

The black-haired girl rolled her eyes. "It's a full time job, but I'll try."

At last, Naruto arrived before Haku. His blue eyes flickered as he fidgeted. "Here we are with 'goodbye' again," the blond noted sadly.

"So it seems," said Haku with a smile. He bowed to his friend who promptly returned the courtesy; the two then clasped hands.

Feeling the warm strength of his friend's hand in his, Haku was struck by the moment and understood what Naruto meant last night. It WAS hard to say goodbye, to know that someone you care about is leaving and that maybe you won't see them again. The ninja's grip tightened slightly, involuntarily, not wanting to let Naruto go -- as if it would be just that simple to prevent his return to Konoha. Just KEEP him here!

It was a ridiculous idea, the teenager knew, but still couldn't help how he felt. Naruto had his own life to live and his own dreams to achieve, just as he had his. That meant they had to go their separate ways.

Haku risked a look at Naruto's face, wondering if the sight would bring tears to his eyes like the ones Inari was trying to hide. "You'll come back," he asked hopefully, not caring if the question was unfair or not, "won't you?"

Naruto's smile trembled. "You bet!" answered the genin, forcing cheer. "It's a promise. And you'd better visit me in Konoha too! I'll beat the crap out of anybody who tries to keep YOU out!"

Haku nodded and the two let go.

"Goodbye everybody!" Naruto managed then waved, turned and headed away, setting a brisk pace down the pavement of the bridge that bore his name; headed back the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

"That kid's sure one of a kind," remarked Tazuna who concluded with a rumbling laugh.

Turning away himself to the demands of a new day, Haku spared a look back at the small, yellow-haired figure. A smile dawned over the constable's face, assured by a feeling of almost prophetic certainty that he'd see him again before too long.

* * *

_Thanks for reading! I really do appreciate your patience and putting up with the many flaws in my storytelling._

_This concludes Snow Angels, the second arc of Kirigakure's Shore. The next chapter will begin a ***new*** story arc called Complicated Shadows, so I hope you'll come back for that. Here's the synopsis:_

**_While a powerful ninja lord from Kirigakure visits the Land of Waves, the patriarchs of Water Country's bloodline clans search for Haku._**

_--Jonohex_

_Hey, I'm looking for some good fanfiction to read and learn from, and I'd like your suggestions. So if you had to recommend one, and only one, story; one that really, really, REALLY blew your mind, touched your soul, made an impression and changed who you are as a person for the rest of your life TELL ME...what would it be? Mail me and let me know! Thanks! ^^,_


	14. Complicated Shadows Part 1

Hi and welcome to the third arc of the story. I was a little slow on the update this time around. Basically I was playing around with ways to speed things up a little, maybe with a time-skip, or skipping ahead and backfilling the story at it goes along but none of that seemed to work. So, here I am, back at the beginning with my regular old linear format and glacially slow pace.

Ah, well…live and learn. Hope you like it anyway!

--Jonohex.

* * *

Part 3, Complicated Shadows -- While a powerful ninja lord from Kirigakure visits The Land of Waves, the patriarchs of Water Country's bloodline clans search out Haku.

* * *

**Well there's a line that you must toe  
and it'll soon be time to go  
but it's darker than you know in those Complicated Shadows.**

Elvis Costello – Complicated Shadows.

**Haku**

The young Wave Country constable knew that today was going to be different almost from the moment he'd left the Tezukas' house that morning. Before the teenager had even made it halfway to the magistrate's offices, no less than a dozen people had stopped him in the streets to ask about the new ship in harbor.

Intrigued, Haku walked down to the docks to see for himself the vessel they'd described with such whispered trepidation and it was not at all difficult to find -- a potent-looking frigate that managed to combine in its nautical architecture the streamlined elegance of a yacht with the much more imposing qualities of a man-o-war. Mist-ninja stood at intervals along its sleek pipe-railings with hands clasped uniformly at their waists, dark silhouettes against the bright morning sky, still as statues and vigilant as vultures. Waving fitfully in the ocean breeze over the bridge-house, a standard flew which bore the same emblem as the one painted boldly in black on the ship's bow – a row of four undulant lines, the sigil of Kirigakure no Sato.

The teenager's lips drew into a thin line.

* * *

Approaching the old customs house that served as Lady Orimi's headquarters, as he'd done nearly every day for the last five months, Zabuza's former disciple found strangers guarding the door. One of the four mist-chunin broke from his martially-stiff posture enough to spare Haku a brief, critical scowl, but made no move to stop him as the constable paced up the steps and went inside. These sentries were not like those assigned here as part of the lady magistrate's garrison, a collection of oddballs and misanthropes, those who'd been banished to this most remote outpost to serve out their sentences for whatever infractions that could not be handled otherwise under Kiri's official code of conduct, or young genin straight from the Martial School. These newcomers were mainline shinobi, and whoever had accompanied them here in that ship occupied the Mist Village's topmost echelon, maybe even the Mizukage, Lord Kouji Oku himself.

_Is it possible?_ Haku very much hoped it wasn't but the teenager's thoughts were interrupted almost immediately by Chizuzu, Daigo and Utako, the three genin that comprised Orimi's security detail, who rushed around the constable almost before he'd shut the door behind him.

"Mr. Okame!" cried a panic-stricken Chizuzu. The twelve-year olds' intensely-focused hazel eyes looked up at him worriedly from beneath the heavy-looking mantle of her hitai-ate. "Lady Orimi told us to tell you to go see her in her office the _second_ you got here and that it's really, really, really, _really_ important!"

Haku's gaze flickered between the three anxious faces. Even the normally stoic and reserved kunoichi, Utako, wore a perturbed frown. "Of course," he replied coolly but asked: "Do you know who's with her?"

The two girls shook their heads but: "It is some old lady, Sir," reported Diago dutifully.

Daigo didn't care much for Haku. The constable's feminine aesthetics and mannerisms cut deeply across everything the ancient clan to which the boy belonged had raised him to expect from a mist-shinobi. However, the genin had also been inculcated with the ethos of 'soldier ask not' since birth. Haku outranked him and so, by all the powers of heaven and earth, Daigo would support him with every particle of his being; he would smile pretty and stand in the path of a speeding train if the senior shinobi so ordered.

Haku canted an eyebrow then gave Daigo a brief nod, letting the genin know in an appropriately understated way that that little bit of information was incredibly useful and exactly what he'd sought.

_So, _the ninja considered, greatly relieved, _it is not the Mizukage, nor is it Lady Hirai's Grandfather, Kissohamaru._

Haku had already met the elder Councilor from Kirigakure and they had not parted under the best of terms. That left one remaining probability which was still quite a lot better than the other two.

Hastening up the three flights of curved marble stairways and along the wide hall flanked with secretaries that lead to Lady Hirai's office, Haku rapped smartly at her door, awaited acknowledgement then entered to the surprising chirps of light laughter. His superior, resplendent as usual in her vibrant magisterial robes and tassled hat, and standing before her own desk, turned toward him.

"Ah, Constable Okame," Orimi greeted then gestured toward the owlish old woman seated in what was normally her chair.

The young ninja took in with a glance the newcomer's clever eyes; the severe line like a faded scar formed by the shape of her lips, and her hair a drapery of silver curls. The woman's ensemble, which conveyed a clear preference for comfort over formality, seemed oddly thrown-together: a loose, indigo knee-coat patterned with bamboo leaf motifs worn over pewter-colored fatigue pants. That her slipper-covered feet rested causally atop the magistrate's desk, and that Orimi Hirai was actually _allowing_ this to occur, was more than enough to acquaint Haku with the stranger's lofty rank even before the kunoichi concluded: "May I introduce you to the councilor, Lady Chinami Inoue."

Haku bowed as formally as humanly possible even as the potentate cut her mirth short and fixed him with a hard, puzzled stare.

_"You…!"_ the old woman intoned intensely then, with surprising vigor, shot to her feet.

The constable's face went blank; heat prickled under his hitai-ate as the young shinobi tried to place her though he swore to himself he'd never seen her before. The Councilor's eyes meanwhile, jewels of cloudy grey-green against the weathered and wrinkled setting of her aged face, went wide.

_Could she,_ Haku's thoughts fluttered, _could she recognize me as Zabuza's apprentice?_

Trying to withhold any reaction that might betray him and trying not to believe that the elaborate house of cards of his new life was about to come crashing down, the teenager caught the flash of concern in Orimi's otherwise poker face.

_"By Heaven and Earth!"_ Lady Inoue exclaimed, leveling a tense, trembling finger at the young ninja as she marched around from behind the desk toward the constable whose mind froze fixedly on his fate. _"You!"_ she continued, almost eye-to-eye with him, **"You're…!"**

_But what should he DO?_ Haku's mind raced. _Stick to his story; make up a new one; fight; flight?_ Haku sucked in his lips as he hung on the Councilor's next word.

**"…BEAUTIFUL!"** the woman exulted at last as she clasped pruned hands rapturously to bony breast.

The black-haired teenager's legs almost gave way but Inoue's fingers went to his chin and seemed to hold him up with a feather's touch.

"That skin: flawless and milky as alabaster," the old councilor cooed as she inspected him close up, her dry lips scant inches from the ninja's cheek. "An ANGEL'S face! Hair like fine, black silk! Slender and straight of body; and eyes like polished granite, large and soulful! I tell you, I have never seen a finer-looking young man. Constable! You are nothing less than _magnificent._"

Haku stared straight ahead, dumb and frozen, but tried to pry the features of his face loose enough at least to affect a smile. Never in his life had he been praised with such effusion about anything let alone his appearance which so many considered odd or, in some cases, even disturbingly, _unforgivably_ androgynous.

"Orimi!" Lady Inoue barked sharply in a voice that slid then into tones as smooth and sweet as chocolate butter-frosting, "what would it take to have him transferred to my retinue?"

For her part, the magistrate of Wave Country was the picture of unflappable propriety. "I'm sorry, Lady Inoue, but my constable is…not for sale."

"Poo," the councilwoman replied unhappily with arms crossed then gave Haku a long, appreciative perusal. "Still," she added in a far-away voice, "I can hardly blame you. I know *I* wouldn't let him go without a _hell_ of a fight."

Like water trickling through a clearing drain, Haku's senses slowly returned. "I'm…I'm very honored to meet you, Lady Inoue, and…quite flattered by your kind words."

The woman gave a dramatic love-struck sigh then shot Orimi a look. "He would have to be polite and soft-spoken too. _Damn you, girl,_ where did you _find_ him?! Ah, well," she lamented, "I suppose I shall have to make do with the staff I have."

"If I may say, Lady Inoue," Orimi ventured, "they appear to be quite capable."

"Capable, YES!" Inoue exploded then shook her head, "but UGLY! So, so ugly. I picked them all at a time when I valued substance over style, function over form. Little did I know that I was sentencing myself to -- to having to LOOK at those scarred and pock-marked, rough-complexioned, clock-stoppingly ugly faces EVERY DAY!"

The constable blinked uncertainly as the magistrate, in his defense, stated: "My Lady, I assure you that --."

"That your Constable Okame is also quite capable," the old kunoichi finished Orimi's sentence abruptly, waving her hand in curt dismissal, "yes, yes, yes, I never meant to imply otherwise." Lady Inoue stood straight then announced briskly: "Well! Lady Magistrate, if I can't _have_ your constable for my very own then I demand at the least that you let me borrow him for awhile. I want a knowledgeable AND attractive guide to escort me during my stay." With that she looped her arm around Haku's and waited expectantly; a 'that's the end of the argument' look plain on her face.

Orimi and Haku looked at each other nonplussed and then at the councilwoman before the Lady Magistrate's head fell of its own accord into an obedient nod. "Uh, certainly, Lady Inoue," she answered after a long hesitation then her face cracked with an obligatory, polite smile.

As Inoue grinned victoriously then steered her prize toward the door, Orimi interrupted: "Oh, Constable, one last thing --." She stopped suddenly. "Never mind, it'll wait."

"Well, what is it?" asked the councilor, sparing the magistrate a look of infinite patience. "You got me interested now."

"It's nothing really," Orimi prefaced, clearly regretting having brought it up. She glanced toward Haku. "While you were on leave, these three jokers from the Rain Village, wearing gas masks and jumpsuits (if you can believe THAT) showed up."

"Oh?" replied Haku in a level tone as he imagined the spectacle. "What did they want?"

Orimi frowned and shook her head in annoyance. "They're looking for some dumb f-, I mean, for one of their jonin who, apparently, strayed off the reservation and is now some kind of killer-for-hire."

"Hmm," answered Haku, feigning interest. Of all the things he had to worry about just now, Aoi Roshuko was probably not one of them. Nevertheless, he answered in an attentive tone: "I'll be sure to keep an eye out, Lady Hirai."

* * *

**Mari**

Alone on the forested trail in the hills overlooking Wave Country, Mari Tezuka pushed her wheelbarrow full of tools past the path that lead to a familiar clearing, vowing that this time she'd just walk by.

_There's nothing there you haven't seen before,_ the girl told herself primly and turned up her nose as if not interested at all.

Haku and Zabuza's gravesite had become something of a regular stop when she found herself working out this way. For many people, the two ninja fugitives had, in tragic death, become something like folk heroes whose patron spirits could be moved to intercede in the affairs of the living and bring good fortune to the Land of Waves. Believers left votives, flowers, fruit and other gifts, lit candles and incense. The girl always found it terribly interesting the cornucopia of things left for the perusal of her very-much-alive boyfriend's ghost in hopes that he (it) would cure a loved one's illness, bring misfortune to an enemy, or guarantee success at the gambling halls. One enterprising visitor had come not to give but to take and had left with the Demon of the Hidden Mist's ridiculously giant sword – Zabuza's trademark weapon that had served as his tombstone.

Mari resisted the temptation to be mad about that for she had, one fateful day, taken much more than that.

The freckle-faced, black-haired girl smiled uneasily at the memory then felt proud of herself when she passed where the rugged path split into a fork that bent toward the gravesite.

_But you know,_ the thought tantalized before she'd gone very far_, the last time you went there you found that really cool plate – that old, antique saucer with scalloped, gilt edges, and a drawing of a crane and a carp in the middle._

Without even breaking stride, Mari doubled back then veered into the tree-bounded clearing.

_You shouldn't be doing this,_ the girl remonstrated herself once again but the thought got flicked away the moment she noticed that she was not going to be disappointed.

Immediately, one item among the many seized her attention – a lacquered scroll case resting against the upright of the simple wooden cross that marked Haku's grave. Upon the cap was painted the crane-and-carp crest of the Aramata clan.

"It's – it's just like the saucer," Mari noted in an amazed whisper then looked around, wondering who could have left it. _It had to be the same person who'd left the plate…right?_

For the first time she could remember Mari felt something like a foreboding shiver, as if she were tip-toeing somehow upon the forbidden shores of some deep, dark, secret of the ninja world, but the sensation was quickly sent packing by the thrill of a genuine mystery.

Gathering herself, the girl grinned determinedly, reached toward the scroll case, snatched it up and fled.

* * *

**Haku**

Arm in arm with the Councilor from Kirigakure no Sato, probably the most powerful kunoichi in the Land of Water despite her harmless appearance and many off-putting idiosyncrasies, Haku guided the woman through town. As a member of the consortium financing the construction, she was most keen on surveying the progress up close and took great interest in exploring the grand new buildings, broad avenues, landscaped parks and even the less spectacular but no less important state-of-the-art infrastructure projects such as the wastewater reclamation fields, desalinization plant and electric power station.

Although Lady Inoue seemed quite pleased with the quality of work done to date, she was less so about how much remained.

"My goodness, Constable," she remarked out of the blue on the way to the next stop, "you have a way with people."

Haku, wearied already from the old woman's tireless pace and keenly aware of how dangerous she undoubtedly was, smiled guardedly. "How do you mean?"  
"The way people look at you," Inoue explained and waved her arm at all the passers-by, "that's not fear in their eyes, it's respect."

The teenager shook his head and delivered a disarming grin he hoped didn't seem too facile. "It's my office, that's all. I've tried to make myself useful."

"None of that!" scolded the old councilwoman in a stern but good-natured way before she went on unabated: "I don't think I've ever seen anyone look at a shinobi of the Hidden Mist like that, not for many years. They actually admire you here; I dare say they LIKE you."

Plotting in his mind the shortest course through the crowded streets, Haku tried to forecast where the kunoichi was going with this puzzling line of inquiry but, to his surprise, the old woman's tone softened as she asked: "Constable, do you…do you like it here? You do, don't you?"

Of all the questions Lady Inoue might have posed, this one struck Haku as one he might have expected least…not to mention oddly personal. "Yes," he decided to answer honestly since it was obvious anyway, "very much. The warm climate suits me, as do the people." The young ninja paused and looked at her, assuming (as presumptive and potentially perilous as that could be) that she might be the type who appreciated candor. "I consider Wave Country to be my home."

The woman from the Mist Village's thoughtful and affirmative reaction surprised him even more. "Splendid," she muttered.

* * *

After a long meeting with Tazuna, Keiya Okore, and Yoichiro Saito, where Inoue was brought up to date on the construction schedule, cash outflows, manpower shortages for skilled trades, the dates various building materials were supposed to arrive, and difficulties arising from inaccuracies in some of the surveys and soil test reports, the councilwoman offered to treat her guide to a very late lunch.

Haku steered her toward an out of the way cafe called The Blue Cactus. The food was good there and the pace a bit slow, making it a perfect place to rest. And they had ice cream.

"I'm sorry you had to sit through all of that," offered the kunoichi after a healthy mouthful of clear, chap chae noodles. "As a young man, you must find such things more than a touch boring."

Haku looked over his plate across the table at her. "Not at all, Lady Inoue," the teenager countered politely. "Though I admit, between all the contractual arrangements, the complexities of the financing, the design and engineering aspects and all their deliverables, then everything involved with the actual construction itself, I had no idea the process could be so elaborate." His expression pinched with slight self-consciousness. "Tazuna's done his best to explain it to me but I doubt I've absorbed even half."

"I noticed that man seemed reassured by your presence." Inoue barked out a laugh. "That's a switch! Usually when there're mist-ninja around everyone's worried about who they're gonna KILL, right? Of course," the old woman expounded, "having survived Zabuza Momochi trying to chop him into sashimi, and then all those rogue ninja trying to burn the place down a few months ago, not to mention Haku turning up still alive, having a garrison of mist-ninja in town must seem positively tame by comparison."

Haku nodded quietly and kept eating.

"By now I shouldn't be surprised that you're the exception to the rule. You must have got that from your sensei, may heaven rest his soul."

Again the teenager made sure to say nothing, let his head hunker between his narrow, sloping shoulders and pretended to be occupied savoring his meal.

Inoue took another big bite of noodles followed by a gulp of tea then paused deliberately before leaning forward. "So tell me, Constable Okame," the old kunoichi advanced with ashen brow raised, "what's that _look_ you keep giving me? You're not in love are you? There's a bit of an age difference you know; not that I mind!"

"Look?" Haku repeated awkwardly then wiped his slack chin. By this time he was starting to learn that she liked to throw out remarks like that every now and then just to see how people reacted. "I don't know. I suppose it's just," the black-haired shinobi frowned and started over: "I've rarely met someone of your stature. And though you are much different than I would have expected from any member of Kirigakure's Council of Elders, it's crossed my mind the sorts of jutsu you must have mastered." Again, Haku chose to be direct. "I wonder too what it must be like to have shared so much of the Mist Village's history…and to be privy to its secrets."

Inoue stared at him, swallowed hard then laughed. "You ARE very different from any shinobi, really, from any-ONE I have ever met. But ah, yes, SO mysterious," she commented sarcastically. "I'm sure Kiri's inner workings must seem that way to you."

"Are they not?"

The woman shook her head definitively then gestured at him with noodle and sauce-laden chopsticks. "What motivates a nation is no different from what motivates a man or the men who lead it – hunger, fear, pride, greed, lust. Only on rare occasion is it something more enlightened. Of course," she pointed out, "every so often a nation, much like a person, feels the need to pretend it stands for something more. And THAT is when it is at its most dangerous."

Haku, struck by her irreverent and bleakly cynical outlook, blinked then gave a thoughtful nod. It was _awfully_ hard to tell if Lady Inoue was being serious or not.

"You don't think so? Alright then!" the kunoichi challenged as she set down her utensils, "think of me as a Djinn from ancient mythology – only instead of wishes you may ask of me three questions, _whatever you like_, and I shall answer to the best of my knowledge."

The teenager assumed she was kidding at first then really had to think about the offer for a moment when it became plain to him that she was not. Though the Councilor's manner was folksy and disarming, he knew that he must never forget the corridors of power she walked and what she must have done to reach them – much like her colleague, Kissohamaru. And then too Haku knew full well that questions revealed as much about the questioner as the answers revealed about the asked.

So…could he really decline if he wanted to? What would that reveal?

Then again, the shinobi forced himself to consider, he might just be making too much of this which was kind of a habit with him.

"Very well," Haku played along then ventured in a daring tone, knowing the question was implicit: "The Third Mizukage."

Inoue smiled and nodded, rising to the test. "Ha." Her face lit like a magician's. "I suppose it's obvious you'd ask about him and how the most powerful ninja lord in our history, who came out of nowhere and built Kirigakure into a vast military power, vanished without a trace. Hmm," she muttered in hindsight, "you're right. I guess that does seem a bit mysterious."

The ninja gave a demure, offhand gesture. "I've often wondered."

Lady Inoue took another gulp of tea then began in earnest: "Our glorious Third came to us at a time when the Land of Water was still wracked from civil war and suffering the depredations of famine that followed in its wake. He was," her old face pinched as she searched for the right words, "very compelling, charismatic, enormously powerful and had this…this bold vision of how to unite Kirigakure and make our village strong once again. Everyone was so full of hope when HE came. I suppose we should have known better."

Haku tendered a sardonic smile then glanced around at the restaurant's other patrons. "It does sound too good to be true when you say it like that."

"Let it be a lesson to you," Inoue pointed out, wrinkled finger upraised instructively, "a good deal will _never_ come looking for you. If someone comes at you sounding like that, then the plan they have in mind is one that's good for THEM, not you!

"But this man," she continued in a tone that made her sound something like an old gossip, "was an immensely powerful ninja lord named Madara Uchiha, and he was the grand patriarch of the Leaf Village's Uchiha clan. After something of a lengthy convalescence following a bitter defeat he'd suffered at the hands of a rival there he was looking for what the business folks call a 'lateral move' which we were more than happy to give him given the sorry state we were in."

Haku's grey eyes went wide at the mention of that name. The young ninja had long grown up with the stories and rumors that circulated about the Third Mizukage and how some unspeakable secret had lead ultimately to the great man's disappearance. But not even the wildest of those approached this. As the constable digested the revelation, he thought too about his own encounter with Sasuke at the first battle at the bridge and the canisters of Uchiha 'product' he'd taken back to Konohagakure just days ago. It sure seemed like a small world.

"With his particularly persuasive manner he was indeed able, after just a few years, to unite all the various factions and earn the support of Water Country's daimyo," the councilwoman went on. "True to his word our ranks swelled with shinobi under his tenure BUT it became clear to some of us somewhere along the way that none of what he'd accomplished was for Kiri's interests, but for his own. What our Uchiha kage wanted was not merely to have a force powerful enough to deter any invasion from the other Elemental Nations, but one powerful enough to wage war far beyond Water Country's borders – an army with which he could pursue his grudge against his former village and maybe much more than that."

Haku nodded; his thin, dark brows furrowed intensely. It had always seemed odd to him why Kirigakure felt it needed so many ninja and commanded so many vessels. Being that Water Country was a nation of islands out on the edges of the known world, having such a huge military force as a deterrent never made much sense.

"Some of us, a tiny minority, mind you, were quite worried as I remember," the old woman intoned. "Water Country had just come out of a long series of terrible civil wars and now it seemed that our own Mizukage was gearing us up to wage war again, not with any domestic enemy but against, very possibly, the entire rest of the world.

"By that time, understand, the Third was at the height of his power. All Kirigakure was with him, all the senior shinobi, not to mention his Seven Swordsmen so it didn't seem like there was much those few of us who harbored doubts could do about it."

Inoue paused in her narrative to fix the rapt constable with a wry look.

"So what happened?" Haku plied her, seeing that she had her heart set on him asking.

"My elder councilor, Lord Kissohamaru Hirai asked the Mizukage to leave."

Again the aged woman paused, driving Haku to distraction.

_"And?"_ the young ninja all but demanded.

"He left," Inoue concluded with a shrug. "That's the end of the story."

Haku stared for a moment then broke out in a smile and couldn't help but laugh, thinking the old woman was just having fun with him the whole time. "Well," he commented blithely, "that was most obliging of him, Councilor."

"It was, wasn't it?"

Seeing that that was all Inoue was going to say without further encouragement, Haku prodded: "Must I use my second question to find out why?"

"No," Inoue declined gently, "because my answer would be that I don't know. But I'll tell you this," she added after a pause, "Kissohamaru would not have confronted him like that if the old bastard didn't have the deck stacked heavily, and I mean _heavily_, in his favor. So who knows what Madara saw through his sharingan eyes. Whatever it was, the Uchiha lord left and was never heard from again."

* * *

**Mari**

Mari usually made it a point to let Haku decompress for awhile after he came home but this was an exception. She waited in his basement room, sitting anxiously with her feet tapping on the painted concrete floor; the scroll case she'd found clutched against her chest.

A little past the usual hour the black-haired girl heard the door open and Haku's booted feet come tramping heavily down the stairs. Reaching the bottom, the teenager gave Mari a weary, apologetic look, slouched to his bed and toppled face-down into it.

"Bad day at the office?" inquired Mari.

"Mmmf," replied the motionless constable.

"What happened?"

Bracing a hand against the futon mattress, the ninja shoved himself over. "That woman," he moaned tiredly, letting a lazy arm fall over his eyes, "Lady Inoue from Kirigakure. She ran me all over the city, looking at this, inspecting that, arguing with people about contracts and schedules and manpower and…ugh."

Mari smiled and nodded in playful sympathy. "All of that's very interesting BUT -- somebody left you a message at your grave."

"Lots of people do that."

"This is different," the girl specified as she presented the crest on the scroll-case's cap.

Haku peeked then sat up with interest. Taking the lacquered tube from her, the slender ninja inspected it cautiously then pried it open.

"So what is it?" asked Mari eagerly as the shinobi extracted a roll of paper then scanned its contents.

"A poem," he answered flatly, "a pretty bad one." The constable read it aloud -- a long and awkwardly-phrased ode to the passage of the seasons and all the heavenly bodies in their celestial migrations.

Mari's freckled face pinched into a pained expression. "Aw, that sucks!" she stated in sour disappointment, shaking her head. "That just sucks! I thought it was gonna be more spooky ninja crap, like with the saucer or something, not some dumb poem and it's not even any good." The girl gestured at the scroll. "Unless you LIKE motion sickness."

The raven-haired teenager canted an eyebrow at his girlfriend's odd phrase, tilting his head as he asked: "What do you mean?"

"Y'know, all those sunrises and sunsets, birds soaring, leaves drifting, butterflies fluttering this way and that." The girl waved her arms then illustrated her opinion by pretending to put a finger down her throat: "YAK! I'm STILL dizzy."

Haku was quiet for a moment. His expression drew serious then the ninja rose and went to a shelf that held some art supplies Mari's uncle Maceo had left behind. Turning then toward his table, the teenager sat down, unrolled a sheet of rice paper, opened an inkwell and dipped a brush.

"What is it?" inquired Mari as Haku began to write, his grey eyes roving back and forth between the message and the fresh, white paper before him. "What, is it in code or something?"

Haku nodded. "Something like that, but it's more of a puzzle. Each movement described in the poem tells how to draw the brushstrokes in the characters for the real message."

Mari's dark eyes popped excitedly. "Oh! No DOUBT!" she piped as she jumped up then slipped behind Haku and rested her chin on his shoulder so she could see. "That's actually kinda cool; real spy stuff like in the movies. Finally, some ninja sh-t that makes sense. So what does the REAL message say?"

"Young master of wind and water," the ninja read.

"Your brothers entreat you to speak with us. Dusk; full moon," Mari continued. The girl stepped away then sat down on Haku's bed. "So…that would be a meeting at sunset before the night of the full moon."

Haku hummed in agreement. "I assume the gravesite is the place."

"Could it --," Mari started to speak then went quiet as her younger brothers' pitchy voices rang out and their stampeding footsteps raced overhead, making the joists and floorboards rattle and shake. "Could it really be your brothers?" the girl finished once they'd passed and things were quiet again.

Haku shook his head. "I suspect the author is using the term in the more inclusive sense, as in 'brothers in a cause'."

"The full moon," Mari pondered aloud, "that's just a couple of days from now! How could they know you'd get the message that fast and that they could reach you by leaving something at the grave?"

"It must have something to do with my trip to Kori no Hana Island. I went there shortly after you showed me that saucer you found that had the Aramata crest on it. If the messenger was aware of both events then simple deduction could have lead them to conclude that I am alive and in Wave Country…not to mention self-absorbed enough to frequent my own grave."

Mari stuck her tongue out at him for his subtle teasing then asked more seriously: "It couldn't be the ANBU again, could it?"  
"A good thought, Mari, but I doubt it." Haku leaned back, formed a steeple with his fingers and rested them against his delicate chin. "The Mist's Bingo Book of enemies of the state has me listed as deceased. I've seen it for myself so I think it's safe to say there are no mist-shinobi looking for me anymore. Still, I might consider all of this as part of a deeper subterfuge to lure me out if it weren't for that it was a lone Kaguya who attacked me on the island. A Mist operation would have made sure to capture or kill me there; the trap would have been much more organized." His smoky eyes flickered up. "And then there's how profoundly unlikely it is for any surviving member of _that_ clan to be in league with Kirigakure."

Mari leaned forward, resting her cheeks in her palms. "So what are you gonna do?"

"It seems that I have an appointment to keep," answered the ninja with a casual shrug that failed to mask an underlying apprehension.

"Do you think that's a good idea?"

The black-haired teenager blew out a breath. "Not really," he admitted. "Still, I feel…it's hard to explain."

Mari warmed as Haku smiled at her – an expression of pure gratitude, acknowledging that she put up with peculiarities, both personal and professional, that no one should be expected to.

"I suppose mainly that it must be my nature," added the ninja, "not to let a mystery remain unresolved when the solution is right at hand."

* * *

**Haku**

After another day spent at Lady Inoue's side, watching some tracts of land on the islands rocky, high ground get cleared, hammered or blasted flat while, down below, massive tunnel borers chewed their way into the steep hillsides, Haku was ready to go home. Even the ninjas the councilwoman had brought in to speed things along, pensioners mostly, well past their fighting prime but skilled with earth-element jutsu, failed to excite the teenager very much.

Construction was interesting and all, but he'd had it in his face for nearly nine unrelenting months now – ever since Zabuza's death. He'd even worked on a crew himself for a time back when he was hiding from the ANBU. Enough was enough.

"So, young Constable," said Lady Inoue in a pixyish tone with her cloudy green eyes crinkled slyly on their way back to the magistrate's offices, "have you given any thought to your second question?"

Haku, preoccupied with the impending meeting at his grave, hadn't. His mind raced for a moment, not wanting to disappoint the councilwoman or hurt her feelings. Was that strange?

At once though, a question came to him – one that hadn't fully left his mind since his first encounter with the 'man' in hours preceding the second battle at the bridge.

"Krishenay Rahaman," Haku replied grimly, having never forgotten the Mizukage's emissary and executioner – the visage of death itself; and a man in appearance only for it had been clear to Haku from first glance that Rahaman was far from human. "What is he?"

The old woman's pale eyes went wide for a moment before her lined face fell into an expression like sorrow. "Ah," she ventured, "I see. I forgot for a moment that it wasn't unlikely that you would have met him. But what is he?" continued the kunoichi rhetorically, the strain evident in her voice, "a mistake; a big one…like Momochi and Hoshigake and Uchiha before him. All were mistakes but Rahaman is by far the worst.

"You surprise me, Constable," Inoue intoned, "I didn't think any of your questions would make me regret my offer to answer them."

The teenager's eyes widened. "I…I'm sorry, Lady Inoue, that was not my intention." Haku thought for a moment. "Never mind then," he offered in an awkward attempt at consolation, "I withdraw it. I'll ask something else."

Lady Inoue frowned but it seemed directed at herself. "Too late!" she countered brusquely though it lacked her usual energy, "But it's alright anyway. Having to answer hard questions just might be something I'll have to get used to."

After taking a few moments to regroup, the old woman began: "After our Third Mizukage's expulsion, the council and I decided we wanted someone much more _malleable_ at the helm – someone we all could guide and influence. In something of an overcorrection, we chose a jonin named Kouji from Water Country's prestigious and well-connected Oku family. He was a capable fellow, a fine ninja in all honesty, but being a Mizukage requires a certain mindset, a charisma and personality that the poor fellow just didn't have.

"Between those shortcomings and all us old barracuda playing tug-of-war with him it didn't take long for Kouji to start fraying around the edges if you know what I mean. After a few years of that he got to be a little jumpy, a little paranoid even beyond what's required for the job.

"And then, when Zabuza nearly lopped his head off, Lord Oku…well, he kind of came off the tracks and struck a terrible bargain using Mist Village forbidden jutsu which, as Mizukage, he had unlimited access to. Tell me, Constable," asked Inoue in a weighty voice, "have you much experience with the _supernatural?_"

Haku frowned. In his profession, such kinds of things could not be avoided but, truth be told, Naruto Uzumaki and his Nine-Tailed Fox was the closest he'd ever come to what the Mist Village councilwoman was very clearly talking about now.

"No," she assumed from his hesitation, "I wouldn't expect that you would. Pray you never do."

* * *

**Haku**

At the gravesite of the Demon of the Hidden Mist and his apprentice, at the appointed hour of dusk before the night of the full moon, two strangers waited. One, shaggy-haired and powerfully built, looked out over Wave Country – a vista bathed in orange from the rays of the departing sun. His bespectacled comrade, with thinning, chestnut-brown hair dusted with white, lingered weakly, the man's balance uncertain as his rheumy, sad, brown, basset-hound eyes stared vacantly into space.

At the entrance to the clearing, a wild wind sprang up out of nowhere, breaking the peace and pulling fallen leaves and scraps of grass into its rustling whirl. The two men turned toward it as the dust-devil's roaring intensity swelled then sharply vanished, leaving in its place a slight, zodiac-masked figure with long, black hair pinned back, a knee-length jade robe worn over a brown, turtle-necked shirt, and pleated black, hakima-style pants – a ghost from the recent past.

"I understand you wish to speak with me," observed Haku, Zabuza Momochi's living disciple in a chilling, dispassionate contralto worthy of his reputation. "By all means, _speak_."

The chestnut-haired man's mouth fell open in amazement at the vision before he regained his composure, dabbed at his trickling nose with a handkerchief then started to bow. His companion stopped him.

"Young master," the larger, shaggy-headed man said to The Demon's Apprentice in a confident baritone, "My name is Tohma of the Nikai family and this is Lord Noriyasu of the Tsujita. We represent Water Country's blood-gifted clans which, like yours, were all but wiped from the face of the earth. We have come a long way merely for the privilege of speaking with you and have no other designs than that, so please," he offered with a knowing, mercurial smile, "no tricks?"

After a moment, all color drained from Haku until he, his clothing and mask were nearly transparent. The water-clone collapsed abruptly to the ground with an undulant splash.

The two men turned by slow degrees then towards the tree-line at their left as they noticed the slender, sweet-faced and black-haired teenager standing there, unassuming in a grey hooded sweatshirt and well-worn jeans.

Tohma's face washed with joy. "Lord Aramata," he greeted reverently and bowed low, "this is truly an honor."

Haku, with a flicker of disconcertion coming over his face, returned the courtesy. "Why do you call me that?"

"Because, that is your name," the taller newcomer illuminated then asked almost as an afterthought, "did your master Zabuza never tell you?"

The young shinobi shook his head. "The past meant nothing to him."

Tohma mulled over the boy's remembrance, gave a sage nod and raised a hand to his barrel chest before he explained with certain gravity: "The past means _everything_ to me."

"So," Haku ventured after a pause, "you…and he --?"

"Yes, we are among those few who survived the massacres. I am a Nikai patriarch just as Noriyasu is for the Tsujita. Among us in our enclave are descendants of the Serizawa and the Kaguya as well."

Haku's expectant face fell. "I see," he offered disappointedly, "so there is no one left of my family."

The two men looked at each other, and this time it was Noriyasu who answered in a mellow, weary voice: "I am sorry, my lord, you are the only Aramata scion anyone has ever heard of. I know it's a hard thing – to live your life apart from others, having to keep your heritage concealed. My own clan has been cast to the winds; our history, like yours, erased. Like you, I am a lord in name only."

The teenager swallowed, feeling the weight of history drape heavily over him.

"Let us talk not of what has been lost but of what remains and what is to come," suggested Tohma in grand transition. "Discovering that you are still alive has us all quite excited; to think that the blood of all five clans still flows within beating hearts. It's truly miraculous and a prophetic sign that our plans to balance the scale with the authors of our tragedy will meet with success."

Haku's eyes flicked up at this turn. He'd heard that messianic tone before in the voice of his late master on the eve of the coup d'etat. "Meaning?"

"Young lord," began Tohma, "know that your clan's death will not go un-avenged for we have the means to answer that injustice. In two weeks time, all our ancestors, yours and mine will _rejoice in the afterlife_…for Kirigakure will be no more."

Haku squinted at the unlikely-looking, would-be 'Shiva' dubiously and canted his head. "You," he repeated as if just to clarify, "you intend to destroy the Mist Village?"

"I tell you, Lord Aramata, that the moment of reckoning is at hand. For almost three years now, since you and Zabuza --."

The broad-shouldered ninja's sad-eyed companion sneezed hard then, suddenly and explosively enough to send the man's glasses flying from his reddening face, interrupting the Nikai patriarch in mid-declamation and making Haku recoil reflexively. He sneezed again even harder then harder still and the older man struggled to keep his handkerchief clasped tightly over his nose and mouth. Lord Tsujita's body shook and bent as a fit of coughing took him. The man dropped feebly to his knees, wracked with pain, gagging and retching uncontrollably with bile dribbling from his mouth until at last he resorted to a hand sign and was able, finally, to quiet himself.

Haku stared uncertainly, shaken by the sight, then saw the blood – a stain of bright, brilliant red against the white cloth of the man's handkerchief. "Noriyasu?" the constable asked with deep concern then reached toward him, "Lord Tsujita…are you all right? We have a hospital in town now. I can arrange to have you admitted without question if you --."

The recovering ninja waved him off. "Th-thank you, Lord Aramata, for your kind sympathy," the man rasped, but his ragged tone and the wobbly way he stood did nothing to reassure. Tsujita gaped at the bloody handkerchief and watched as it fell from his quaking, unresponsive fingers. "It's nothing," croaked he in a harsh whisper. "It…it will p-pass."

Tohma recovered his fellow patriarch's spectacles then helped him with a steadying hand. "Brother Noriyasu has sacrificed much for our cause," the shinobi observed before turning his attention back toward Haku. "Lord Aramata, in only two weeks time we, the survivors of Kirigakure's blood-gifted clans, will take our revenge on those who tried to destroy us. We would be honored beyond what words can express if you would join us."

Haku's expression blanked for a moment before he shook his head and chuckled bitterly. "So, first you tell me that that there are others like me still alive and then, in the very next breath, you tell me that you're all going to go kill yourselves?"

"Lord Aramata --," Tohma started, but the teenager was past listening.

"You're fools, do you know that!?" snapped Haku. "My Master had a plan, the opportunity and nearly half the senior ranks behind him during the coup and still we were turned back. You'll march off to war and die, and whatever remains of your clans won't live long past that. Wasn't THAT how the Kaguya got wiped out in the first place?" Having been informed that he sometimes talked too much, the teenager looked to end it there but the more he thought about it the angrier he grew. The young ninja had often wondered if things would have turned out differently for his poor master had he not kept quiet his uncertainly about the coup attempt, and then his outright misgivings about Zabuza's accepting a contract to murder a harmless and hardworking grandfather in Wave Country. No, the problem wasn't that he talked too much, but too little!

Pacing back and forth amidst the gravesite clearing where he himself was to be buried, SHOULD have been buried if not for a stroke of providence, Haku turned back to the pair and fired: "I would have hoped that any of us left would understand the value of life enough not throw it away on some…on some ridiculous _fantasy of revenge!"_

Haku glared, his schoolgirl's face set in a scowl. "Do you think they're all completely incompetent in the Mist Village? Do you think they don't know jutsu at least as terrible as yours? Oh, if you all have a bloodline you'll manage to kill a great number of people, of that I have no doubt," lashed the young shinobi in a voice dripping with scorn, "but in the end, Kiri will rise up as they always have before and be doubly vengeful at having been attacked. Did you really think I would join you in this?!

"Let me be clear," concluded Haku before his visitors could break in, his tone unequivocal, "I want _nothing_ to do with you or your plan; nothing! And I pray that you will come to your senses and reconsider."

Tohma, who seemed to weather being upbraided by a boy many years younger in stride, nodded with uncommon patience. "I assure you, young lord, that our plans against the Mist Village are not nearly as farfetched as they may seem. But if that is how you feel," he offered in a penitent voice, "then I understand completely. If, by the powers of Heaven and Earth, you have attained a measure of happiness in this uncertain world then far be it for us to disturb it. You have our apologies."

Haku, still upset, nevertheless nodded his acceptance. What else could he do?

"Oh," Tohma started again, this time with an awkwardness he clearly wasn't used to, "there is an…unrelated matter I must broach with you before we depart. Our Young Master, Tensai Kaguya, remains distraught, knowing that he injured you horribly and on the grounds of your own estate. He made me swear that I would beg for your forgiveness on his behalf and report to him faithfully your answer. At even a hint of your displeasure, Tensai has vowed to turn the fearsome powers of his kekkei-genkai upon himself."

Haku's lips parted as he pieced together what and who Tohma was referring to -- that horrific encounter with the lone Kaguya descendant on Kori no Hana island. The ninja's gaze dropped as he remembered flashing razors of blood-slicked bone; eyes afire with madness and transcendent fury. Just the thought brought a heavy, sick feeling into the pit of his stomach.

_Tensai,_ Haku repeated to himself, brow narrowing. _So, the monster has a name._

"Please, my lord," the older ninja implored, his tone free of any artifice. "Tensai is…very delicate in many ways and on occasion succumbs to confusion. His mind is susceptible to the most elaborate fantasies where he cannot distinguish what is real from what is imaginary. Truly, young sir, he had no idea who you were when he attacked you."

The teenager grimaced…but concluded in the end that it wasn't right to begrudge the Kaguya or answer his caretaker's deeply earnest pleas with contempt. If that alone had been insufficient, then Haku's fresh experiences with giving and accepting forgiveness from his new friends here and in the Village Hidden in the Leaves -- Tazuna, Inari, Sakura, Kakashi and especially Naruto -- were more than enough to sway him towards charity.

"Please," Haku prevailed with unreserved sincerity, "tell Tensai that I forgive him."

Tohma's expression flickered with relief as he gave the teenager a bright, grateful smile. "Thank you, Lord Aramata," said the man as he bowed. "You are too generous."

"In the same vane, Lord Tohma, Lord Tsujita," Haku countered, knowing even as he spoke that the attempt was probably futile, "I urge YOU to forgive. If what I have to say means anything to you then please, _live_ your lives…and let those in your charge and those in Kirigakure live theirs. That is a cause in which I would certainly join you with all my heart."

Both ninja appeared taken aback for a moment, moved by the young shinobi's appeal.

"You are an heir worthy of the Aramata name, young master," answered Tohma gravely, "and we truly regret that we cannot follow your wisdom. But there are some things that are beyond forgiveness."

* * *

_**Thanks so much for reading and being patient. Have a great Thanksgiving!**_

_**--Jono'**_


	15. Complicated Shadows Part 2

Happy New Year! :D

--Jonohex

* * *

**Chuuya**

Beads of sweat trickled down the pudgy, black-haired, Wave Country boy's pink, straining face as he squatted in horse-stance, making sure to keep his back straight, chest up, heels out, legs shoulder-width apart, knees bent at right angles and thighs parallel to the ground. The ninja aspirant's quaking arms were held out straight from his shoulders; fingers clasped tightly around the rims of heavy jars filled partway with sand, just as Haku-sensei had instructed.

For the twentieth time in as many seconds Chuuya Tezuka shot an imploring look toward the little hourglass, a ten-minute timer that stood close by, and was again distressed at its report.

_Not EVEN half way?!_ he shrieked inwardly. _Awwwwww!_

The surrounding forest, indifferent to the Demon's Apprentice's apprentice's self-imposed suffering and the pain that seared his upper thighs and shoulders, mocked with its peace, musical chirps of birdsong and murmuring breeze.

With a tortured groan, determined to 'ninja-up' and tough out at least another two minutes, the youngest Tezuka sucked in a breath but then looked up and blinked in _amazement_ at the surpassingly strange sight that unfolded now before him – for into the clearing had just wandered…Chuuya's own self!

The ten-year-old's ebon eyes popped wide and his mouth fell open. The boy staggered out of his stance and almost fell over as his training jars slipped from his hands, spilling sand over the forest's carpet of needles and leaves.

"What the --?" the boy mumbled in a haunted tone, staring at _himself_ in disbelief.

Hesitantly, Chuuya approached the strange _new _Chuuya then slowly made his way around him. Arriving full-circle, the two identical boys met eye-to-eye like mirror images, each expressing the same dumb-struck look until a telling, clever smile flashed over the face of the second.

The first goggled in astonishment. "Inari?!" he squeaked. "Holy sh-t! You did it!"

"I KNOW!" pealed the second who almost collapsed in a fit if giggles.

"That -- that's just…crazy!" stammered Chuuya, utterly at a loss, his hands crossing over the top of his round, black-haired head as if it might come off. "Is that really what I look like?"

With a burst of dispersing chakra, the imposter turned back into Inari -- floppy white hat, teal overalls and all -- who beamed with pride. "I've been working on it hard since Haku-sensei taught us, and Naruto gave me some tips too."

Chuuya gave his leaner teammate an amazed grin. "You gotta help me," he sputtered. "I don't think I'm even close to being able to do the Transformation Jutsu."

The younger boy smiled magnanimously. "Sure I'll help you! It's really not that hard once you get used to how it's supposed to feel. You just got to balance the chakra right." Inari canted an eyebrow. "But YOU gotta help ME with _Cannon Fist_."

* * *

**Haku**

The curving hallways and spacious day-lit chambers still seemed oddly blank and maze-like without paint on the walls, or any wood or carpet on the bare concrete floors. Above, only the metal grids for what would soon support suspended ceilings of wood, compressed mineral fiber or perforated metal were partially in place along with dangling light fixtures still in protective wrappings, supply diffusers and return grills. Between it and the structural floor deck passed insulated ductwork along with cable-carrying raceways which would distribute conditioned air and electrical power throughout the new building.

This strange world, rarely seen, was populated exclusively by men and women in hardhats, goggles, hard-soled boots and stained clothes who tended to converse in patois borrowed from half a dozen different languages. Some walked on stilts strapped to their legs – all the better to work on things up high, while some wore pads on their knees and elbows – better to concentrate on things down low.

In such a place as this the delicate-looking, girlish-faced ninja in militant, mist-garrison fatigues, and the old woman in a flowing shawl of a color deeper and bluer than sapphire kinda stood out.

Waiting patiently while Lady Chinami Inoue discussed some details with the job superintendent, Haku tried not to dwell on the two clan patriarchs he'd met the previous evening for the first and undoubtedly last time, Tohma and Noriyasu, and their doomed cause.

The young shinobi frowned sadly, let out a breath then let his grey eyes fall to a nearby work table, a simple plywood sheet resting on sawhorses, and then the creased, weathered and stained set of architectural plans that sat atop it along with an assortment of coffee cups, soda cans, food wrappers, pencils, scales, measuring tapes, forgotten tools and a cracked radio gargling some jingly and repetitive too-happy pop song.

Haku had seen many such sets of plans over the last year, these detailed to-scale drawings and diagrams. Tazuna's home and office were strewn with them; they lay stacked on every available surface or rolled up and piled high like a winter's worth of fireplace logs.

This one was slightly unusual in that the cover sheet bore no title, just "Building #7", and the rooms labeled in similar generic fashion: "Room 102, Room 103", and so on.

* * *

Walking slowly on their way back to the docks where Inoue's ship was moored, the Councilor from Kirigakure asked: "Is something on your mind, Mr. Okame? You seem so terribly serious today and you've hardly said a word."

With a pained expression, Haku's face sank. "I'm sorry I haven't been very good company, Lady Inoue," the raven-haired teenager explained. "Especially since that's why you selected me as your guide. It's just…a bad memory."

The old woman nodded thoughtfully. "It's easy for me to forget that you don't have to be very old to have those." Her cloudy eyes rose toward him. "Being that we haven't known each other very long I won't ask that you confide in me, but you might consider your teammate, Orimi, if it's something that bothers you a lot. She's the salt of the earth, you know, well-experienced and long past due for the jonin trials."

Haku looked back at her, both at her advice and her peculiar reference to Orimi as his teammate. "Really? I didn't know that. But she always saying she's far too busy with her duties as magistrate to take on another challenge."

"Oh, she's put it off for a good while," said Inoue coyly, "which is exactly how I know she's ready. Not that I blame her for not wanting to be a jonin just now with the Mizukage the way he is, and his purges of the senior ranks following the assassination attempt still fresh in everyone's mind."

Falling into an uncomfortable silence for a time, remembering maybe that Orimi's sensei, Toru Yamashite, too had been a victim, the woman gathered herself before continuing in a more hopeful tenor: "Still, tomorrow is another day and Kirigakure will need its shinobi to ascend to whatever role will carry us forward, now more than ever.

"Anyway," she pivoted, returning to original subject and touching Haku lightly on his arm, "in the end you'll have to find some way of coming to grips with whatever's bothering you. In the meantime, perhaps I can provide some distraction – do you know yet what you'd like to ask for your last question? I can't help but be interested."

The ninja sucked in his thin lips. He'd been hoping she'd forgotten because the question foremost on his mind was not one that was very prudent to ask.

"Lady Inoue," the teenager asked anyway, knowing he tempted fate. "The massacre of Water Country's blood-gifted clans…was it unavoidable; was it really necessary?"

The councilwoman raised an ashen eyebrow, a reaction much more mild, thankfully, than Haku had feared. "'Necessary'," she repeated as if the word carried an indistinct taste. "Such a moldable term -- a tool that fits any hand. I think that would depend on who you ask. Since you asked me, and I did promise to answer to the best of my knowledge, then I say no. I say, rather, that it was a matter of _convenience_ instead.

"The thing you should understand is that after the civil wars, Water Country was divided as never before and on the verge of collapsing into a menagerie of feudal territories as it had been in the distant past -- with every island a nation unto itself. To put it plainly, the fastest way to get people to set aside their differences, even ones who've been at each others' throats for years, is to unite them against a common enemy."

Haku grimaced slightly. "I see," he replied in an imitation of detachment.

"Well, if uniting people is your aim, one _could_ make a broader argument about the essential oneness of humanity and appeal to the gentler, nobler aspects of the human character, but that's a long, LONG hard road." The old kunoichi chuckled – an expression of sad experience rather than humor. "Worse still, you must ask those you're appealing to to exercise self-discipline and self-sacrifice which is not very practical when you're trying to get things done quickly. No, it's far better to rely on peoples' fears."

The younger shinobi looked off, not wanting her to see the disgust play over his face. Being that HE had a kekkei-genkai himself and that his clan, the Aramata, had been one of those slaughtered made difficult even the appearance of objectivity.

Along the Wave Country byways, shops, vendors and eateries were just starting to open up again after the mid-day break. Proprietors and employees were out sweeping the walks and squeegee-ing the windows. Large, new buildings rose up all around and it no longer started either of the two when the immense shadows cast by girders or wall panels flashed past as tower cranes carried them high through the air.

"So the simplest solution," summarized Haku over the sounds of the street, "was to place the blame for years of carnage, poverty and famine at the feet of the clans: their lives in trade for alliances founded on false fears."

Inoue shrugged world-wearily. "I can tell you're disappointed – the truth has a way of doing that. Maybe I'm being just a little self-righteous in my old age, even a bit cruel tearing apart these fairytales called history that we're all used to. But it bears remembering that nations are built on _myths_, not _truths_." When the woman turned toward her escort, she smiled. "I see the future in your young face, Constable, and I'd hate to send you into that unmapped world without knowing where it came from and how it got to be the way it is.

"As for the clans, though they were not wholly to blame, they were far from innocent. Their supra-natural abilities made them feared and highly-priced, and many of their members took advantage to profit as mercenaries – joining one side then another, their loyalties veering back and forth depending on who was paying the most.

"The clans were hardly the cause for the civil wars and bore little of the responsibly for all the terrible things that happened during them, but they did end up becoming a very visible and memorable part of it, what, with their abilities being what they are.

"Tell me, Hiroo," Inoue vectored cleverly as she made a point, "have you ever faced a ninja who possessed a kekkei-genkai?"

The constable gave her a look. "Yes," he answered simply, remembering Tensai and Sasuke.

"Really?" She seemed slightly surprised. "Which one?"

"He was a Kaguya."

"Indeed!" the councilwoman piped, pleased and impressed. "You must be capable AND lucky. And how was it, fighting him? How did it _feel?_"

Haku thought about it for a moment, remembering the raving, shaggy-haired monster whose razor bones had come alive to slash and tear at his body. "Disconcerting," he had to admit.

"And why do you think that is?" asked Inoue in an instructive tone. "Surely you've had to contend with ninja armed with jutsu that were no less terrible then the Kaguya's shikotsumyaku?"

Whether the woman had lead him or if he'd found his own way, Haku still didn't like where this conversation was bound to end. And he had only himself to blame, really – asking a question like that.

"Because," the former Demon's Apprentice answered, frowning, "his abilities were a natural extension of himself, not like jutsu which, in theory, anyone with a similar elemental nature could learn." Haku worried his lips. "So you're saying it's that essential genetic difference that made the fiction of their responsibility for the civil wars so believable and turned those five clans into such easy scapegoats."

The councilwoman nodded. "That's about it," she confirmed. "You're a quick study." The councilor spared him a sympathetic smile. "Do you still think Kirigakure's history is so 'mysterious'? But don't be too dismissive. Those clans' blood-gifts make them truly frightening even among ninja – the Nikai, with their control over water; the Serizawa and their far-sight; the hyoton of the Aramata, the Kaguya's shikotsumyaku and, of course, the Tsujita and their ability to project disease."

Haku startled a little at that last one. _Disease?_ The word landed with a thud in his mind.

"Maybe in the fullness of time, as the saying goes," Inoue continued philosophically, "those five clans will be remembered, revered even for their sacrifice for the greater good. Their deaths helped bring the civil wars to an end after all, and kept Water Country from falling further into ruin. Brave shinobi have died for much less, you know."

* * *

Lady Chinami Inoue, unlike all the times before where she'd dismissed Haku at the end of the day at the entrance to the gangway to her ship, instead ushered the young ninja aboard.

The significance of this gesture was not lost on him. It marked a certain level of trust which was a bit hard for the shinobi to accept under the circumstances. He was after all _not_ a mist-ninja and, in plain fact, a criminal hiding under a fraudulent identity; notorious, even if his career hunkered in the deeper, darker shadow of his infamous master.

There was, in addition, a certain element of danger too in this close association with the councilwoman. For his last five months here in Wave Country, a fair distance from the Hidden Mist Village, with the Magistrate on his side and all of the other mist-shinobi assigned to the garrison basically incurious, Haku could at least allow himself the false sense of security.

"Welcome aboard The Sophae, Constable Okame," Inoue announced with arms outspread as a pair of chunin guards bowed then stepped aside for them.

Passing onto the frigate's textured, non-slip decks, Haku canted his eyes toward the grey, steel-hulled upper decks, bridge and signal house, then along the pipe-railings where shinobi stood at intervals like palace guards, staring vigilantly outward. Though they varied one to another, being tall or short, thin or thick, male or female, younger or older, their singular uniforms of midnight blue, with kiri-ninja hitai-ate worked into close-fitting caps, the matching expressions of tireless concentration and disquieting auras made them seem more alike than not.

Inoue took note of the teenager's interest. "My Nephilim Guard," she intoned meaningfully then gave a proud, cocksure smile. "In a world abounding with dangers, on this ship you may rest assured – no power can reach you.

"Come on," the kunoichi beckoned with an eager grin and tilt of her head, "let me show you around. I'll take you on the cheap tour."

Inoue started at the top where her vessel's flying bridge housed an aerie for messenger hawks and ospreys, along with an array of searchlights, shuttered signal lights, flare tubes, and the best short-range radio equipment allowed by treaty. In just the few minutes Haku was there, looking portside over the Wave Country docks then starboard towards the distant shores of Fire Country, three birds were set loose while another two arrived.

Inoue and Haku ended up following the uniformed shinobi who carried the incoming messages past the bridge house, navigation and map rooms, down below decks to a cryptography suite where a team of twelve sat in two rows at long, caroled tables busily coding and decoding communications.

Passing then past dormitories, staterooms, armories, kitchen and mess hall, Inoue lead Haku to a secure level, past guards who cranked open a heavy steel, watertight door, and the pair entered a broad but low-ceilinged chamber lined with folios secured in a high-density file storage system. Racks of shelving were layered three-deep, with one in front of another on rails so that the first and second rows could be slid aside to access the ones behind.

Dominating the middle of the room, atop a long, wide table bolted to the floor, sat a startlingly elaborate scale model of Wave Country as it would be with all the construction complete. The terrain was modeled of painted plaster. New buildings were crisp shapes crafted in great detail using white museum board while existing structures were drab grey cardstock. The workmanship was impeccable and captured almost the entire island in wondrous miniature.

To the three secretarial-types filing away documents, Inoue gestured, upon which they promptly packed up their belongings and left.

Haku waited attentively, his curious, smoky eyes taking note that all the room's corners were rounded. Near where the walls intersected, spinning talismans hung from the steel ceiling – written spells that would remain in effect as long as the air moved over them. At even increments nozzles hung down.

"Fire sprinklers," Inoue explained.

"Ah, in case of fire."

"No, no, they spout actual fire along with oxygen. It'd be a real pickle if anyone unauthorized penetrated this room. So those jets can reduce its entire contents to ashes in seconds just in case.

"So what do you think of the ship?" asked Inoue innocuously with the flash of a smile before Haku had a chance to react.

"Um, a fine vessel," he ventured distractedly, eyes still focused on the nozzles just above, "your mobile command center, I take it?"

"Exactly right; I do appreciate people who I don't have to explain every little thing to.

"Now then, Mr. Okame," said Inoue with a crisp air of authority overtaking her otherwise folksy voice as she pulled up a chair at the corner of the table then sat. "I hope you won't think ill of me for this but, as much as I _do_ enjoy your company, I have an ulterior motive for inviting you here into the most secure room on the ship." She fixed him with a look. "I would like to ask you a few questions, Hiroo, in the neighborhood of three if not exactly, and that you answer to the very best of your knowledge."

Haku's mind went to work as he sat at her left. _Is this why she offered to answer MY questions?_ he couldn't help but wonder now, and if this conversation was the real reason she'd insisted on his being her escort in the first place; not his looks.

"Of course, Lady Inoue," answered the ninja dutifully though with trepidation. "After all, it's only fair."

The woman tried to set him at ease with a hasty grin but her eyes were still quite serious. "Oh, don't worry, I assure you -- no personal questions," she explained then gestured at the files surrounding them. "It's just that, I read your mission summary about a return of some 'stolen materials' to the Village Hidden in the Leaves – quite a 'page-turner'. And they really let you just walk right in?"

The teenager shrugged at how that sounded. "It was no great matter. I went alone. They realized right away that I was no threat."

"You…you approached them from a position of – of _weakness?_" Inoue marveled, completely flabbergasted, chuckled then shook her head. "I really do appreciate your fresh perspective. Something like that would never have occurred to me, or anyone I know for that matter. And I'm sure the Leaf didn't know at all what to make of you.

"But I'm terribly curious; you actually met with their new Hokage." The woman leaned back. "What did you think of Lady Tsunade?"

"Well, she's quite strong," Haku began, slowly at first, thinking the elder ninja's question perfectly understandable, but unsure of where to begin, "and her knowledge of medical jutsu is --."

"I meant more her personality," the councilwoman broke in delicately. "I already have all the basic background information on her from my other intelligence assets."

"Oh…uh, I would say she's very confident, sincere, surprising straightforward and very dedicated to protecting her village as her grandfather, the Second Hokage did."

Haku thought she might find that detail interesting if nothing else, but the old mist-kunoichi didn't seem to. Instead, Inoue crossed her arms and looked upward in consideration. "Impulsive?"

The constable shook his head. "From what I gathered, Lady Tsunade is quite expressive in showing her emotions, but I wouldn't go so far as to call her rash. She may react on impulse but I believe her tendency is to be more reserved in her decisions."

Closing pale eyes, the woman continued without segue: "Now, the Leaf Village was attacked by the Sand and Sound Villages six months ago. How well would you say they've recovered?"

"They were still rebuilding some of the outer precincts and neighborhoods and just finishing the perimeter wall when I was there. They suffered moderate damage but they're quite resilient and are undoubtedly fully restored by now."

"And their numbers: did you note any significant depletion of their ranks?"

Haku thought for a moment of how to answer. Though he held no allegiance to the Hidden Leaf Village per se, a number of people he considered friends lived there: Sakura and Kakashi, Rock Lee, Kiba and Akamaru, Hinata, Shino and Naruto of course! The thought that anything he might say here could imperil them gave him a chill. But he _did_ have to give this woman an answer.

"I'm sorry, Lady Inoue, military analysis is not my strong suit," he offered humbly. "But from the general atmosphere I took it that the loss of life was quite heavy. Despite that, I observed that the Leaf still possesses a healthy number of senior jonin, ANBU contingents as well as ninja regulars. The ones I encountered were fiercely loyal to their village and would, I came to understand, be highly motivated in its defense."

The old woman nodded. Clearly Haku's report, slanted as it was in Konoha's favor, was not unexpected and she took no issue with his findings much to his relief.

"In your judgment then," Inoue asked finally, "and just from what you saw, would you say that they have enough forces on hand for both attack AND defense? Do you think the Leaf Village able to launch an offensive, or conduct of any sort of large-scale campaign _beyond_ the borders of Fire Country?"

The question surprised Haku. "An offensive?" he muttered. "No ma'am. I do not think they are capable of such an undertaking or that, in committing their shinobi, they would risk leaving themselves unprotected."

"Especially after having been attacked themselves so recently," Inoue added, apparently satisfied. "That's fine, Constable," said she with a smile then patted his arm. "See, that wasn't so bad, now was it."

A metallic rap at the door drew Inoue's attention. She rose, giving Haku an apologetic nod, as the door unsealed then swung open. The shinobi waiting outside bowed then handed her a brief, written message.

"I'd better see about this," she said with a pensive frown as if to herself then turned toward Haku. "You don't mind waiting here a moment, do you? I shouldn't be delayed too long."

The young shinobi rose and bowed. "Not at all, Lady Inoue," he offered in reply, "you must have countless important matters to attend to."

After she'd gone and the other mist-ninja had shut the door, Haku heard it lock and seal. The teenager stood then in tense silence, eyes flickering worriedly over those 'fire sprinklers'. After a few moments though the effect wore off and he went, drawn by curiosity, to inspect the room's racks of folios.

Within were thoroughly cross-indexed personnel records of every ninja the Mist Village had ever produced, intelligence about the other hidden villages and agents in their employ, after-action mission reports dating back to the time of the First Mizukage and dossiers on every feudal lord on the continent, their families and associates…just for starters.

Haku gaped and flinched back. Where he was standing right now was a treasure-trove of information; a place any ninja from any hidden village would sacrifice any-one or any-thing to stand. What Lady Inoue had compiled here aboard her flagship was nothing less than an identical copy of all the information stored in labyrinthine vaults beneath Kirigakure's most heavily-guarded citadel.

The teenager blinked; his breath racing.

At once, betraying his young age, he was seized by the unimaginative temptation to look _himself_ up to see what the Mist Village knew about him and to find out for certain if they believed him dead. He wanted to look up his master, Zabuza, to see what they knew about him, and Naruto too. Did the Mist know he harbored the Kyuubi?

_Stop!_ Haku commanded himself before he'd even started. Rummaging through these documents was a very, very poor idea. Besides, being left alone here could just be a trick or trap of some kind.

Having thought it through a moment, there was still one thing for certain he did wish to look up no matter what the danger -- one with nothing to do with him personally, his past or his yellow-haired friend from the Leaf Village. There was something Inoue had mentioned that bore a little examination.

In a few moments, Haku's finger brushed across a page then stopped at a passage attributed to a _top_ official in the court of the First Mizukage:

'The Tsujita clan is one of five that possess a Kekkei Genkai in Kirigakure. Apparently, they have a natural immunity to all diseases; instead their bodies store them. No outsider knows all the details but apparently they can pass on diseases to a target by mere touch -- ideal for quiet assassinations. After all there would be no poison to test for, no accident to investigate. Perfect if one didn't want questions asked. The side effect appears to be a constant cold which marks every potential user in the clan."

Thinking back to Noriyasu in the clearing last night, Haku remembered quite vividly that the man suffered much more than a common cold: much, MUCH more. The Tsujita patriarch was pushing his kekkei-genkai, his body and his chakra to the very limit, not just to kill one man --.

"But an entire village," the teenager murmured. "A plague."

Three years, since the coup de etat', that's how long Tohma said they'd been planning. That was plenty of time for a vengeful ninja patriarch with a blood-gift like Noriyasu's to travel from place to place, searching out the hospitals, frontier clinics and all the squalid corners of both civilization and wilderness for the deadliest, most incurable and communicable strains. Using his own body as both warehouse and laboratory, could Lord Tsujita not combine within himself the terrible treasures he'd found, breeding them, honing them in preparation to unleash --.

_Heaven and Earth!_ thought Haku, paling. _I was wrong, so wrong, to take them for fools. They could really do it. They could really kill every living soul in the Hidden Mist Village!_

A rattle sounded at the door. The bolts slid free and its crank wheel started to spin. Cursing himself for lingering there so long, Haku hurriedly returned the folio to its proper place then sat just as the watertight gaskets released and the door swung open.

Haku looked up from his apparent appreciation of the magnificent model of Wave Country as a gruff-looking mist-ninja entered.

The stranger, tall, thick-limbed and sure of movement, stepped slowly across the steel threshold then stopped. Swarthy and battle-scarred, the mahogany features of his sandpaper face darkened to black where it met the prickly growth of three-day old beard. Eyes like a moray eel's, but with one dark as obsidian while the other was bone white, regarded the teenager cruelly for a moment before the newcomer's expression lifted into an overtly facile smile.

As he strolled deeper into the room, three more ninja followed in behind him without fanfare, sealed the door, and took positions around the puzzled, seated teenager, with one at his left and right and one immediately behind.

Haku swallowed uncomfortably then restrained his reaction as swords flashed. Three naked razors were now at his neck, pinning it tight within a triangle of sharp steel.

The dark-faced ninja before him blinked casually, still with that smile.

"Something I said?" offered Haku innocently.

At length, the man's arm drifted straight toward him; at the end, a pointed finger.

"Your face," he began in a rumbling tone then stopped as if he was going to leave it at that. "It's a very distinctive sort of face, like a pretty…little…girl's; pretty enough for Lady Inoue to fall in love with and not one anyone would forget even if they saw it just one time."

Haku's eyes swiveled left and right for he dared not move his head; those three blades were pressed against his skin tight enough for him to feel the keenness of their honed edges.

"And yet," the dark and pale-eyed shinobi continued in a knowing, prosecutorial tone, "no one here on this ship or in your own Wave Country garrison can remember ever seeing you before. It's a curious thing, especially when we all trained at the same Martial School in Kirigakure."

Sucking in his lips, Haku replied, trying to sound neither cowed nor combative: "I try to keep a low profile."

The man's smile widened with deeper malice, showing teeth. "That may be so, 'Constable Hiroo Okame'. But whenever I ask, no one can remember hearing your name before either. So I said to myself – that's a very strange thing."

With that, the ninja rose and went to the folios, searching out a particular volume. "My name is Pradesh, the Lady Councilor's head of security. We would have crossed paths much earlier had she not kept me busy elsewhere. But it's funny how things work out – that Lady Inoue would lead you here, to this room, where it is such a simple thing for me to find out if you are who you say."

Haku's eyes narrowed. _This is bad,_ he thought gravely. _If I so much as twitch, these ninja will easily cut my head off._

Really there was only one way out of this – his kekkei-genkai, which didn't necessarily require a hand-sign. But even if he did kill all four ninja instantly, and it would _have_ to be instantly, by flash-freezing them or filling the room with ice lances, he'd still have to get off this ship somehow. And then there were those flame jets overhead. Who knows _what_ might set them off?!

Pradesh pulled out a folio and spread it open on the table. "Ogamushi," he read the name listed aloud in a slow, sure, dramatic voice, "Ohara…Oka--."

The ninja's lips froze there for a moment as his eyes scanned the page then looked up at Haku. Gritting his teeth, the dark-skinned ninja leaped to fetch another volume, tore it open and consulted it. At length, he paused again and gave his compatriots a subtle shake of his head whereupon the blades dropped away from Haku's neck.

"My apologies, sub-lieutenant," grumbled Pradesh with a subdued air of defeat in his voice. "I didn't realize that the Akita had taken you on as his personal disciple."

Haku sat frozen for a few moments then blinked. _Neither did I!_ was his first thought.

"I…I understand you were doing your duty," the young constable improvised in a cool tone that masked his mystification as he rubbed his slender, alabaster throat with relief, "still you should have checked before confronting me like this."

Rising, unwilling to let his guard down just yet, the teenager asked, "May I see?"

Pradesh nodded at once, his resolve clearly shaken, and turned the book towards him.

Haku noted his pseudonym 'Okame, Hiroo' typed there, right beside his own, real face, front and profile, dentil records and fingerprints along with basic information, date of birth, blood type, height and weight listed below. Though the quantity of accurate information was frightening and impressive, the fictional parts were no less so. Apparently, he HAD, at a very young age, attended the Mist's Martial School at least briefly, been inspected by its doctors and found to be in acceptable health if a little underweight. The ANBU Pack-Leader, Toru Yamashite, had then recruited him, almost immediately after matriculation, as a member of his team and undertook all of Hiroo's training personally.

Hiroo had then gone on to establish an impressive, but not suspiciously unblemished, service record.

As forgeries went, this was nothing less than a masterpiece, having all the right names, dates and official seals. The other volume Pradesh had consulted contained Toru's file, in which Hiroo was also named and indexed as being his disciple student.

_I see now why Lady Inoue said some of the things she said_, Haku realized, _and why she has such faith in me. She read this file already and didn't realize it was a fake._

Again the door's crank-wheel spun. The door opened and in stepped Yukimasa Sakurai, one of the ANBU who'd hunted Haku five months ago, with Lady Inoue right behind him. The teenager's eyes widened as he cursed his luck but --.

"Hiroo!" the ninja greeted in an amiable tone, his mild features smiling. "I wondered when I was going to get to see you again."

Pradesh's head spun like an owl's. "'Masa, do you know him?"

"Sure, we were on Yamashite's team together." The ninja looked back and forth between the head of security and Haku. "Everything ok?"

"Of course," said Haku at which Pradesh nodded with puzzled, unstated gratitude.

Lady Inoue clasped her hands in beatific appreciation. "Ah, how wonderful to see everyone getting acquainted, or RE-acquainted as the case may be." The councilor looked toward the young ninja. "Hiroo, I had intended to show you more of the ship but I'm afraid something's come up. Why don't I leave you with Yukimasa then," she said with a kind, grand-motherly sort of smile. "I'm sure you two have lots of catching up to do."

* * *

Haku followed his unlikely rescuer through the ships narrow corridors, up to the deck then down the gangway. Only when they'd arrived on the dock, well out of earshot from anyone on the ship did the one-time Demon's Apprentice try to speak. "Tha --."

"Don't!" the former ANBU interrupted sharply, turning toward Haku with an agitated glare, "don't thank me." Yukimasa grunted then shook his head, his lips pressed tightly together. "I SHOULD have let Pradesh cut you to pieces and feed you to the fish. By all rights your powdered remains should be in a jar in Kirigakure no Sato already."

Yukimasa's face, normally phlegmatic, screwed into a deeply disturbed frown as he started to pace.

Haku waited, patient and curious. If everything was indeed as it appeared, the young ninja could hardly blame his former hunter for being unhappy at this strange turn of events. The last time the black-haired teenager had seen 'Masa, as his familiars called him, was during the mist-ANBU team's all-out assault on Juri's compound for which Haku had declined to stay. Their meeting before that had been even less sociable.

"I don't get it," snapped Yukimasa, "you're like a damn cockroach -- nothing KILLS you! Momochi never killed you. In eight years you'd think he might have at least by accident. Copycat Kakashi couldn't kill you, WE couldn't kill you, Juri Chono couldn't kill you. And I don't know WHAT the f-ck happened on that Naruto Bridge that made Toru not kill you, but he didn't have any right not to whatever it was!

"Shoot!" he continued tensely," you walked right into the Hidden Leaf Village and THEY didn't kill you. Just what the hell is it with you?"

Haku's face twitched with a guilty, fleeting smile. "Just lucky, I guess."

"Oh, you have NO idea!"

"But why complain to me?" the constable riposted disarmingly. "One of the reasons I AM still alive is that someone very clever, skilled, and detail-oriented forged my identity; someone on Lady Inoue's staff with unlimited access to the records vault. If you want to blame someone," he looked up meaningfully, "blame yourself."

The ANBU straightened. "I do. I definitely do."

"Then…why?"

"Orimi," the mist-ninja explained then let out a frustrated breath. "I can't imagine why or how, but somehow, you got her to be on your side. Who'd have thought – reliable, dependable Orimi getting mixed up with you; hiding you, Haku the Demon's Apprentice? Maybe it was something Toru told her to do. Maybe it was because of him; I don't know…he always WAS a little strange.

"Look," Yukimasa blurted at last, turning and taking a step towards him, "after everything you and Momochi did, after everything we went through to track you down, I hate even the thought of you still alive. But Orimi and I have been through a lot over the years and I hate the idea of her throwing her life and career away even worse."

* * *

Rather than heading back to his basement apartment with the Tezukas, Haku went instead to one of the tower cranes and sprang his way up its massive, steel-framed skeleton to the top. The view of Wave Country down below with its streetlights just now twinkling to life against the backdrop of darkening streets, the Great Naruto Bridge and the rippling waters of the channel it spanned, the sunset glowing at the horizon's edge and the crisp coolness of the evening air made the world seem like a peaceful, uncomplicated place.

With the crane's elevator locked down for the evening, the ninja's solitude was all but guaranteed. Here Haku rested, gazing out, and tried to sort things through.

_Wave Country,_ he thought first, stirred by the vista.

Of course, he'd been here since all the construction started but he'd never envisioned the full, startling scope of the effort all at once as in that model aboard The Sophae. Tazuna had explained to him before that a pool of investors from all over the world had contributed to this grand venture of developing Wave Country into a commercial center in expectation of a profitable return.

To Haku, the idea that anyone would pour their money into building a city they might never see in a far-off country they'd never visited and knew little about kind of made the young ninja's head swim…as did the effects. In less than a year, Wave Country had been almost completely transformed from a starving and squalid little village into a splendid, full-fledged city.

Lady Inoue's questions came second.

That the councilwoman would want to interview him over his mission to Konohagakure no Sato, a place few, if any, mist-ninja had ever been, was hardly surprising. But that her questions were so specific kind of was.

_Does she really fear the Leaf Village would launch an attack, invade Kiri…invade Wave Country for that matter? Why would they?_ Haku wondered. _Could her concerns be just leftover paranoia? That's possible, isn't it?_

Yukimasa then: the ninja's explanation that he'd helped Haku just to protect his former teammate, Orimi, didn't _feel_ right. From everything Orimi had ever said about him, Yukimasa was another by-the-book type who wasn't given to taking crazy chances. Even assuming that the man's feelings for Orimi ran far deeper than Orimi would ever believe, forging all those records so completely and with such detail couldn't possibly be the work of just one man.

Lastly and most importantly were those two clan patriarchs, Tohma Nikai and Noriyasu Tsujita.

Their grievances were legitimate; they had every right to be angry and every reason to seek revenge. Their entire families had been murdered, sacrificed on the altar of political expediency…and HIS too, Haku reminded himself.

_But to kill everyone,_ the persistent thought haunted him, seeping through the totality of his existence like cold water through sand.

That was their plan after all. Kirigakure would not be destroyed in a zealot's vision of the apocalypse, by fire or ice, or in any general's nightmare of invading armies. It would be nothing like the Sand and Sound's attempted conquest of the Hidden Leaf Village with battling shinobi, monsters and ninja spells. In fact, the city itself would remain perfectly intact…only it's people would die, without fanfare, without discrimination, and not quickly but by slow, agonizing degrees, watching helplessly as their friends, family and loved ones succumb before they themselves fall inexorably to death's embrace.

The ninja sighed then shut his eyes.

Exactly when it happened, Haku couldn't say. But somewhere between the moment he'd laid his eyes upon that generations-old entry in the records room down in The Sophae's steel confines and now, the teenager had come to a resolution: that Tohma, Tsujita and their cabal must be stopped.


	16. Complicated Shadows Part 3

'**Team' Hiroo**

In the middle of the clear night a little dark-haired girl no older than twelve dressed in mist-ninja fatigues materialized out of nowhere, kicked down the door to the Yotsu gang's dockside safe-house then spun away as her partner flung a carefully-calculated quantity of flash and concussion bombs in through the opening, shredding the dark Wave Country tranquility with jazz-rhythm-thunderclaps and angry paparazzi glare.

In blurs of movement too fast to follow both Utako and Daigo leaped clear as exploding notes detonated simultaneously on the underwater supports, dumping the whole place into the channel where Chizuzu's water-clones were already waiting beneath the waves.

Less than a minute later, all three genin along with a full squad of their combined clones dragged the building's half-drowned occupants tied-up, gasping, cursing and subdued to shore. Though some were rogue ninja and others well-trained in other martial disciplines, none of them had stood a chance.

Each of the young Kiri-ninja, only a few months graduated from the Mist's Martial School, celebrated the successful assault in their own ways: Utako with quiet satisfaction; Daigo with bravado, and Chizuzu with a happy, piping cheer. But they did at least manage one communal high-five before their unassuming pack-leader showed up, coalescing quietly from the black.

Hiroo Okame, a strangely peaceful and androgynous boy even in uniform, checked his stopwatch.

"Well done," the teenager's cool, feminine voice issued distantly. "Your teamwork is much improved. Lady Orimi will, I'm sure, be pleased with your progress. Now please, conduct these prisoners to their cells."

A flicker of uncertainty crossed between the teammates.

"Um, sure, Pack-Leader Okame," offered Chizuzu at last as she slicked salt-water from her face.

Although those _were_ the Magistrate's standing orders, to enforce the laws of Wave Country, the notion of actually taking enemies alive still seemed somehow…a little strange.

It came as a relief to some; a disappointment to others.

* * *

Once the captured Yotsu soldiers were secured, the three genin approached their senior who hadn't even bothered to accompany them in but instead waited outside on the prison steps, brooding under the lamplight.

Chizuzu, hazel-eyed and light-haired, stared at him, gripped with concern, while her more thickly-built teammate, Utako, only shrugged. Daigo, the lone male genin, lean and so wide at the shoulders that he looked something like the letter 'T' from the front, crossed his arms and scowled.

"Pack-Leader," he snapped, "if there's something wrong, just spill it."

Hiroo shot the younger shinobi an annoyed look. "There is nothing wrong, Mr. Tenge. In fact, I believe you have all progressed enormously. It will be duly noted."

"I meant with YOU," the boy clarified with curt insolence, "Sir."

The normally-unflappable teenager seemed taken-aback at being so confronted, and the delicate features of his half-shadowed face settled into a cold frown before he turned away, saying: "It's none of your concern."

"With respect, Pack-Leader Okame," his junior insisted, "you've been in a FOG ever since Inoue's ship left. We've ALL noticed. Chizuzu won't say anything 'cause she 'LIKES' you --." The girl beside him gaped, hot with outrage, then gave Daigo's arm a hard swat but the boy persisted: "Utako takes things as they come but it just flat bugs the SH-T out of me…Sir!

"Look," the twelve year-old continued in his typically coarse fashion, "the Lady Magistrate made you our pack-leader so if you're not at a hundred-per-cent then that puts US at risk. The least you can do is say why."

The slender constable rose then leveled a look at Daigo that made him shut up then back up. It was something none of them had ever seen in the ninja before – a chilling gaze that reminded Orimi's guards that despite his angelic face and usual serenity, Hiroo Okame was a veteran with vastly more experience than all of them put together.

After a few moments the chunin's expression turned calm once again. "I really don't know what MY sensei would have done had I said something like that to him," he mused at last, pointedly, "but I doubt it would have been very nice."

Hiroo paused to give them all a thorough, appraising look.

"Very well then," he relented and sat back down on the steps, motioning for the three to gather around; "since you're so concerned. As you've deduced, there is rather a lot on my mind just now."

Beneath the broad, blue band of her Kiri-ninja's hitai-ate, Chizuzu's light eyes widened. "OH! I'll bet I know what it is!" she blurted eagerly, tender-looking hands clutched under her chin as all eyes turned doubtfully toward her. "Lady Inoue – she gave you a mission, didn't she, Mr. Okame? A BIG one!"

Hiroo's face screwed awkwardly while Daigo's baseline-stern expression went blank.

"Is…is that true, Sir?" the genin squeaked, his attitude transformed from confrontational to humble. "Did the councilwoman really assign you a mission personally?"

Chizuzu whirled on her teammate, gesturing forcefully. "Well DUH, what else could it be?! Hiroo-sensei went to the LEAF Village last time – the freakin' HIDDEN LEAF VILLAGE by himself like it was no big deal! THIS time it's gotta be something really, really HUGE if it's bothering him this much!"

"Well," said the constable, "it's…it's a mission anyway, but it didn't come from her." Flustered, the Pack-Leader shook his head then brushed his long hair back. "It's all a bit complicated and I dare not tell you the whole truth." He frowned. "If I did, you wouldn't like it much…and me even less."

Hiroo's thin lips pressed together direly as he thought. "If I have seemed aloof all this time it is not because of anything you've done or any unfavorable judgments I've rendered against you. I have my reasons; that's all."

The constable paused then looked over his younger charges in turn. "Chizuzu, you've always given me the benefit of a doubt…but for the wrong reasons.

"Daigo, you've _disliked_ me from the start, also for the wrong reasons.

"Utako, you rarely react at all one way or the other. I honestly don't know you well enough to know if that's from a stoic acceptance of the way things are and humility before the things you cannot change, which are virtues, or out of apathy…which is _not._

"I will tell you that I am leaving soon – for a short while if things go well." Hiroo grimaced slightly as he added: "forever if they do not. Whatever your opinions, if you trust me enough to help, there're many things I need to do in preparation that will require my absence during the days when I'm scheduled to make my rounds. So I will ask – I say ask, for in this case I have no right to order – you to cover for me as best you can and act in my stead."

The Pack-Leader's calm, grey eyes roved from face to face, watching as each of the young ninjas negotiated uncertain emotions until they settled at last in resolution.

They were with him – all three.

* * *

**Gennosuke**

"Come ON already!" the white-haired Kaguya girl chimed, giddy with anticipation.

The younger boy sat up straighter on his bed, gave her a sheepish grin then closed his eyes and tried to concentrate which was really, really hard with Sakiko sitting so close to him.

Gennosuke rolled his bony shoulders and took a deep breath. Closing his reddish, rust-colored eyes then, the Serizawa scion called upon the powers of his kekkei-genkai and projected his awareness towards Wave Country -- the place Tohma-sensei had found Haku.

"Well?!" urged Sakiko after a few minutes.

The lavender-haired boy's lips parted in surprise then wriggled a moment before his eyes popped wide open and he burst out laughing. "Heh…he --," he choked, "he looks – he LOOKS LIKE A GIRL!"

"What?!" Sakiko's expectant expression turned stormy as she shot to her feet. "You little liar!" she cursed bitterly, turned on a heel then paced angrily from the room.

"But he DOES!" the boy cried out in shrill, useless protest. "Sakiko, wait! Sakiko!?"

* * *

**Haku**

Out of habit long held, Haku bowed his head as he entered Zabuza's Wave Country hideout – a tree-house of sorts, but a far more elegant and expansive structure than the image that description normally evoked. This place, secreted amidst the forests, had been Haku's home for a while and it had been over nine months since he'd been back. A lot had happened since.

The tree-house had, in that time, not fallen into ruin but remained eerily intact – seemingly suspended in time. Everything was just as it had been when the two shinobi had set out, with Zabuza confident and eager for a rematch against Sharingan Kakashi, and Haku uneasy.

Looking around again at the warm, wood floors, out the sloped windows into the green-leaved treetops beyond, soaking in the vague but at the same time heart-wrenchingly familiar sights, sounds and smells, the young ninja could almost see himself as he'd been back then: wearing his jade-colored robes, brushing his longer, black hair or putting on some nail polish (his favorite blue), with not the faintest clue about what was going to happen.

As the teenager floated in a sea of memories, Haku found his dead master's _presence_ here palpable…almost overpowering. Would it really be that much of a surprise, he proposed, if the man himself suddenly materialized in one of the doorways then roused his apprentice with that demanding tone of his as if most of the last year had been nothing more than a dream?

It took a little while combined with an effort of will for Haku to shake himself loose from the idea. It would be far too easy to get lost in those days as Zabuza's disciple, when his master made all the decisions and he'd found true joy in simple obedience.

_What WOULD happen if Zabuza came back?_ the teenager wondered.

What would they see in each other after all this time? Would they meet as colleagues, with respect and understanding…or recoil in mutual disappointment?

Frowning, Haku realized that he shouldn't linger here. This was a place of ghosts and if he fell to their enticements he might never leave.

The constable made his way to his old room and was shocked at how small and spare it seemed. He paused there long enough to peruse his few belongings: a keepsake here and there, his familiar accoutrements and a wardrobe of dresses and feminine-styled kimonos. Though they raised a smile, none of that was what he'd come for.

To be honest, Haku wanted to tell himself he'd come for sentimental reasons or to reclaim some meaningful possession but what he'd really come for, other than some spare quivers of senbon and stolen ANBU masks, was the gold. If he was really going where he was planning to, he would have need of it. And even if he didn't, the Tezukas still had debts to pay and it could be put to good use.

The fact that he hadn't even thought about it until just yesterday, the boy chalked up as just another example of how deeply, deeply strange he was in so many ways and how much he had yet to learn about what passed for 'normal' life. No one in his adoptive family, or anyone else he knew for that matter, would just _forget _they had access to a cache. Of course (he couldn't help but amend in his defense) returning here back when the ANBU were on his trail would have been monumentally stupid.

Feeling like a thief though in his own house, Haku found the hidden compartment. As he coaxed it open then looked down at the neat stacks of hundred-ryo bars, a tremor of revulsion filled him; this was Gato's gold after all – blood money to murder Tazuna.

_What am I doing?!_ Haku asked himself for the hundredth time, feeling volition drain from his limbs.

After Zabuza's death, he'd managed to recover from Kakashi's chidori, overcome countless enemies and build a new life in Wave Country. He had friends now (kind of), students, an actual girlfriend, a job where he got to use his hard-earned skills to help people. Was he really going to throw it all away now? For what exactly?

The young shinobi straightened, staring off into space.

The way Haku had figured it, there wasn't much time left. Lord Tsujita, clearly, did not have long to live, and Kiri's Ascension ceremonies were scheduled to begin in just a few days. All mist-shinobi not on active missions or assignments would be on hand for that, making it the perfect time to strike.

_Every hidden village has enemies who want to destroy it,_ the constable again told himself. Why should HE get involved? And wasn't he just being a little egotistical to think it was up to HIM to stop them anyway?

_'Quiet, Haku!'_ issued a memory of Zabuza's fierce hiss. _'If you've already made up your mind what you're going to do then do it. Follow it through with everything you are. Second-guessing will only insure failure.'_

"Huh…right," Haku answered aloud with grim humor, his lilting contralto voice echoing hollowly in the empty hideaway. "Sure…easy for you to say, Master Zabuza." When he looked up, the constable could almost see his departed sensei standing there with his enormous sword slung casually over a shoulder. "YOU don't have to tell Mari."

With that, the young ninja wrapped up his reclaimed treasure, secured it in his pack then left, abandoning his old home to whatever fate might befall it.

* * *

**Naruto**

A long, long, LONG line of Narutos stretched from the bulk receiving room at the back of the Hokage's Tower, up through an enclosed stairwell, along winding corridors to a wide but windowless interior room.

While Izumo and Kotetsu looked on, Naruto #1 hefted one of several-hundred file boxes and passed it down the line, moving smoothly from one blond shadow-clone's hands to the next's in 'bucket-brigade' fashion. In practically no time at all, the young leaf-ninja had moved the lot.

"Thanks, Naruto," offered Izumo as the chunin checked that all the boxes were properly placed along a series of long tables and arranged according to how they were labeled, "that would have taken us awhile."

Kotetsu nodded. "Definitely. Your multi-shadow-clone technique sure comes in handy."

Naruto grinned up at them. "Aw, it was nothing. Good thing for you I was here anyway."

"To bug ME, no doubt!" added the Hokage as she strode into the room with a train of a dozen or so other officious-looking ninjas and civilian operatives filing in behind.

The genin braced his hands on his hips. "Well now that you mention it, Granny Tsunade, when are you finally gonna give me REAL mission; a true test of my SKILLS!?"

The statuesque, sandy-haired woman scowled down at the boy for a moment, looked at all the boxes then allowed a sly grin to cross her face. "This must be your lucky day, Naruto, 'cause I know just the thing."

"What, REALLY?!"

"Oh, absolutely!" Tsunade assured him. "In fact, your timing is perfect because it's a follow-up to your second Wave County mission. See all these boxes? They're full of contracts, bills of sale, working drawings, specifications, submittals, requests for information, correspondence, transmittals-between and transcripts-of-interviews with all the hundreds of different contractors, vendors, engineers, architects and designers supplying services and products for all the construction going on there."

The broad, Cheshire-cat smile slid off the diminutive young ninja's eager, whisker-marked face as he started to get the gist.

"All YOU need to do," explained the Hokage, who jacked her thumb at the clerical-types behind her, "is help these ninja accountants and legal experts go through the files and drawings looking for patterns, irregularities, you know – anything out of the ordinary; basic intelligence work."

Naruto looked up at her then blinked -- a blue-eyed deer caught in the headlights.

"It'll be fun!" Tsunade brayed like an overly-enthusiastic kindergarten teacher then raised her forefinger instructively, "not to mention a good break from what you're used to. I think this will _really_ help round out your skills." The woman raised an eyebrow. "You DO want to be well-rounded, don't you?"

"Um," the genin muttered dolefully, "did you say 'ninja _accountants_'?"

A man wearing both a pressed, white button-down shirt with slacks AND a Leaf Village hitai-ate leaned toward him. "That's right, kid! We crunch numbers as well as bones!"

"But," Tsunade allowed in an abstract tone, "**if** you've already committed to go off and train somewhere else, then I suppose --."

Naruto was gone before she'd even finished her sentence, whereupon the Fifth Hokage gave out a relieved sigh.

"Let me know what you find out," she said to the room. "And when you're through," her amber eyes narrowed seriously, "make sure Naruto doesn't know."

* * *

**Haku**

The second of Haku's errands lead the ninja back yet again to his own grave – the little clearing on the high ground overlooking Wave Country, the city, the Great Naruto Bridge and the channel it spanned.

All in all, it struck him as very odd that far more people had visited him dead then ever had alive. And though some thief had taken Zabuza's sword, there were still supplicants there. This time it was a middle-aged man with two daughters. They startled a little at the constable's arrival, but Haku reassured them with a passing, disarming smile and wave that he had no business with them.

Haku searched the grounds then for a particular item and paused grimly once he'd found it – the blood, snot and fluid-crusted handkerchief that Lord Noriyasu Tsujita had discarded during his paroxysm. Kneeling down carefully, Haku put on gloves, poked it with a senbon then levered the disgusting (and possibly dangerous) item into an evidence bag which he quickly sealed then placed into a hard-shelled, air-tight case.

* * *

Arriving home some time later at the Tezukas' house, still plagued by doubts and ceaseless ruminations, Haku was not completely surprised to find an all-out brawl underway. There in the front-room Jimon, Ryuunosuke and Chuuya lashed each other with angry blows in the kind of roiling, screaming, red-faced fury that would eclipse anything but a pro-wrestling battle-royal.

As the young ninja glowered at the scene in disapprobation, Jimon, the oldest and biggest of the Tezuka brothers rained down hammering blows on little Chuuya's huddled back. Chuuya bent under the onslaught then threw himself at Jimon's shin, wrapping arms and legs around it like an octopus before sinking sharp incisors through his brother's denim pant-leg into the tendon right behind the knee. Jimon howled a curse, arms flailing, as both crashed to the threadbare carpeting.

Such sights pained Haku, but he'd already learned the hard way that his interference in matters like these was a trespass. He was 'kind of' one of the family but then again 'kind of' not, and so, sucking-up his misgivings, the ninja sidled past the scene and went into the kitchen as the tumult raged on.

After a bit of rummaging, the constable discovered a clean glass and then another, went to the refrigerator and filled both with milk. Going then through the pantry, he found the cookie tin and stacked several on a plate just as a horrific BANG! CRASH! erupted from the battlefield after which everything went dreadfully quiet.

As a chorus of shrill and hostile new recriminations arose from the front-room, the black-haired teenager let out a breath then shook his head before heading downstairs to his room where he sat at his table, dipped a cookie and slowly munched away.

Minutes later, a flush-faced and teary-eyed Chuuya stamped grumpily down the stair then flopped down on his butt in a huff on the bottom tread.

"You're SO lucky you're an orphan, sensei!" he declared thoughtlessly with blazing, furnace-hot intensity. "Having a family SUCKS!"

Haku shrugged and smiled wearily. "I'm not really surprised you'd say that just now," he offered in a lazy tone then tilted his head toward the plate and the other glass. "Want some?"

The boy looked up, made a pretense of consideration then took the glass and a couple of cookies before heading back to his seat on the stairs.

"So what were you fighting about _this_ time?"

Chuuya drew a breath then began: "I just came in from taking out the trash 'cause dad said he wanted me to before he got back so I DID this time and I came in and Jimon he just SHOVES me out of the way y'know he just SHOVES ME so I SHOVED him and he hit me on top of the head and I HATE it when does that so I PUNCH him and he punched me back and we go into the living room and Ryunnosuke's doing this puzzle it's a jigsaw puzzle of sailboats and we ruin it by accident it's not like we MEANT to or anything but then HE gets all mad and starts punching BOTH of us so Jimon's punching both of us too and I'm punching back 'cause they're punching ME!"

When, after that, Chuuya fell silent and dwelled, Haku favored him with a sagacious nod, resting his cheek on a palm. "I see."

The boy startled suddenly in alarm. "But I didn't use any ninja stuff on 'em, Haku-sensei, I swear!"

"I know," the teenager assured him, raising a hand, "I saw for myself when I came in."

The boy's dark eyes narrowed fiercely. "But how COME I can't?! ALL my brothers are bigger than me and Jimon's WAY bigger AND stronger!"

"You already know 'how come', Chuuya. What you, Jimon and Ryuunosuke were fighting about just now was stupid and senseless. After so many years in each others' company I'd have thought you would have found ways to better accommodate each other but maybe that's just my orphan's conceit. In any case, many of the things I've taught you can inflict _serious_ injury."

The ninja paused, his eyebrows lifting, before he went on: "Maybe that's just what you feel like doing, now, while you're mad, but afterwards, after your anger is gone your brothers would still be hurt. Emotions are fleeting," lectured Haku, acutely aware of how he was coming off but just as aware that some things had to be said, "but the effects of your actions can last forever. Do you see?

"Besides," Haku added craftily in an attempt to lighten the mood, "it's not as if you don't hold your own already even without ninjutsu."

"I guess," the black-haired boy grumbled before countering: "But stupid Jimon's always pickin' on me and pushing me around and stuff."

Haku nodded. "I know," he had to concede. "It's a disgrace. At eighteen years old, he is not a child anymore by any standard, and should know better."

"And the stuff he STILL says about YOU…when you could CRUSH him like an egg!"

"I'm very well aware."

"But he knows better! He knows you're a constable; that you're my sensei. He knows you're going out with Mari even if he doesn't like it, and about the second battle at the bridge and how you saved Wave Country!"

Haku shook his head. "Jimon has had it firmly in his mind for some time that I'm a criminal and a deviant. Like many people, once they've made a decision about someone it's not easy to change."

"Well how come you let him get away with it – calling you all those names and stuff?"

The shinobi grinned and leaned back. "I hope, one day, that he will be impressed by my restraint."

Chuuya shot the older boy an incredulous, 'oh-come-ON' look.

"Alright, maybe not," Haku admitted in good humor then explained: "But what if I did 'crush him'? Could you ever look at me the same way again, knowing I hurt your brother just because he did or said something I didn't like?"

The ten-year old's expression wavered just a little.

"I already know you wouldn't, Chuuya. You have a good heart. And you understand from all those years under Gato the terrible effects violence has on people, which is why I feel confident that anything I teach you will not be misused.

"As for Jimon," Haku continued with a thoughtful, embarrassed look, "I know I should do something about how he acts but…I'm afraid I don't know what…or how. For most of my life there was only, really, Master Zabuza. I didn't have family, friends, brothers or classmates to learn from so I'm often at a loss when it comes to even the most basic kinds of relationships." He grinned with forced cheer. "I guess you could say I'm learning as I go.

"You know, Chuuya, although your older brother and I don't get along and I see him as terribly flawed, I recognize that he is not altogether a bad person. You know better than I how hard he works to help support your family, as your mother and father do.

"I know you remember too all the things he's done for you over the years like how he saved you from drowning when you were seven, and how he almost broke his arm climbing a steep, rain-slicked roof to get your ball back after you'd gotten it stuck behind the chimney."

Chuuya snorted and shut his eyes but still nodded, though begrudgingly.

"And when was the last time anyone picked on you?"

The aspiring ninja's eyes bugged. "Just NOW, Sensei!"

"_Besides_ your brothers and sister."

"Um…don't know. Never, I guess."

"Don't you think that, maybe, having four older brothers, especially one with a disposition like Jimon's might have something to do with that?" Haku couldn't help but smile at his student's reaction. Maybe he never really HAD thought about it before!

"I can see that having siblings isn't always easy, Chuuya," the ninja went on, "and not all brothers and sisters share a sense of responsibility toward each other. But by contrast, your friend and partner, Inari, being an only-child, didn't enjoy the benefits you did and was bullied and alone for a long time until he discovered his confidence."

The boy worried his lip, his temper fading.

"By tomorrow, today's fight won't even be a memory but," said Haku with dire emphasis, "your mom and dad's reaction to whatever it was you three broke just might be." Before Chuuya could get too deep into worrying about that, his sensei added: "What I'd really like you to consider is that even though it's impossible to look past the difficulties in your life and the all things you would change about it and the people in it, it is much more healthful spiritually to be grateful for what you have."

After a short while, a time shared in companionable silence, Chuuya brightened a little. "And what are _you_ grateful for, Sensei?"

"You mean, besides milk and cookies?" Haku quipped as he flipped one dexterously between his fingers, dropped it but was quick to snatch it before it reached the ground. "I'm grateful for a lot of things – to still be alive, for one! To have had Master Zabuza as my sensei, Mari, of course…and to have you and Inari as my students." The ninja gave Chuuya a benign look but felt a pang when the boy seemed a touch surprised.

Thinking more about it, the past they'd shared and of the dangerous journey on which he was about to embark, the young constable continued: "I guess I've never told you this, Chuuya, but I really am very proud of you…as I am," he stumbled over the guarded, heartfelt words, "as I am fond of you."

The boy lifted his head and stared for a moment then went to the teenager and threw his arms around the ninja's lean waist at which Haku, warmed and reassured by the affection, cradled his arms around his student's round, black-haired head.

In parting, Chuuya gave the former Demon's Apprentice an awkward grin then paced back upstairs a great deal more lighthearted than when he'd come down.

"Oh, Chuuya?" said Haku, meaning to tell his student right then about his intent to stop Lords Nikai and Tsujita from destroying the Mist Village but thought better of it, not wanting to spoil the moment. Instead, he asked on a whim a question that had been in the back of his mind for a little while now: "Why DID you head-butt Naruto?"

Chuuya stopped and thought for a moment then shrugged. "Mm-nn-mm," he hummed, supremely content in the completeness of his answer, as he continued on his way.

Haku watched the boy go then flopped down on his bed, his slender shoulders shaking with laughter.

* * *

**Orimi**

In the comforts of the study of her Magistrate's mansion, a very well-appointed townhouse to be sure, Orimi Hirai sat deep in thought. Something was going on and a lot of it involved Haku.

"Sh-t," she cursed aloud, her fingers tapping her armchairs push upholstery. Covering for Haku in his new identity as 'Constable Okame' had seemed like a good idea six months ago – the kind of unorthodox move her sensei might have made, turning an enemy into an ally. Kirigakure no Sato had seemed far away and, judging by the misfits and green genin they'd dispatched to serve in her garrison, pretty-much uninterested in Wave Country.

_Toru,_ she thought again in a sentimental sort of fury, blaming HIM for her indiscretion. _Some example you set for me, Sensei._

The first in a series of recent 'oh sh-t' moments had come with Councilor Chinami Inoue's unexpected visit. The second: when Haku told Orimi about his time aboard The Sophae. The last: Haku's sudden request for a long stretch of personal leave; he wouldn't say what for.

The woman sighed and rubbed her forehead.

_I shoulda killed him,_ the Magistrate speculated. Of course, back then, it was just as likely that he would have killed her.

_Little f-cker with his senbon, kekkei-genkai and heaven-knows-what tricks Zabuza taught him._

_I should have HAD him killed, _she tried again.

That was better but still not without its problems as Haku had turned out to be the only sensible ninja in her entire command. The rest were either hard-core killers or children – NOT the kinds of shinobi you assign nuanced peace-keeping, law-and-order kinds of missions to. Gentle, stable, reliable, girly and non-threatening-looking Constable Okame had turned into the go-to guy -- a keystone of the operation and pretty-much the only mist-ninja any Wave Country civilian dared trust.

Also, with his absence, the surprisingly tenacious Yotsu gang that'd been trying to assassinate Orimi since day-one undoubtedly would have succeeded.

"Well, I could always kill him now," the kunoichi muttered distantly, but they were lazy, idle words. The moment when that would have made any sense had long past.

Haku had been right to doubt her former teammate Yukimasa's story that he alone had falsified Inoue's records…and for his reason.

Orimi's round face puckered. "Yeah, right," she scoffed cynically, "he did it for love."

As much as she might like to think that she possessed the kinds of womanly charms that would inspire such an impulse, Orimi doubted that was the case. In any event, 'Masa' was far from being the romantic type anyway.

_So 'Masa knows Haku is alive,_ she considered, not daring to hazard a guess at the ANBU's true motives._ I wonder who else. Heaven and Earth, what a mess._

Orimi was starting to realize just how tethered her fate was to Haku now as he and she made their way up an increasingly dangerous slope; tethered by her own impulsive and poorly-reasoned attempt at cleverness.

Haku realized this too.

So yes, Magistrate Orimi Hirai had approved 'Constable Okame's' request for personal leave, hoping somehow that Zabuza's disciple would either find a way to fix things…or maybe that he'd just leave and never come back.

* * *

**Tsunade**

_Wave Country,_ thought the woman to herself from her office high in the Hokage's Tower. _There's an awful, awful lot happening over there but is it really anything to worry about?_

Leaning back in her chair, her mind brimming with a thousand more immediate concerns, Lady Tsunade's amber eyes canted upwards.

_There doesn't seem to be. At the end of the day, it's probably just a big real estate development, nothing more than that._

That's what her analysts had reported thus far anyway. Of course there was SOME corruption going on, bribery, financial manipulation and even outright theft, but where contractors were involved all that was pretty much normal.

_And the thing is too,_ she proposed, trying to set herself at ease, _for an enterprise THAT big, if something was going on we'd know about it by now. Somebody would have talked. There're just too many people involved to keep anything really juicy a secret. It's human nature!_

Still, Tsunade frowned. _So why do I feel like we're missing something obvious._

After Naruto's return from Wave Country with, surprisingly enough, a wealth of useful information, Tsunade had unleashed the hounds to follow up. Her ninjas had produced volumes of documents and hours of interviews, but nothing to suggest that there was anything untoward or dangerous going on, and certainly nothing that would imperil Konoha or Fire Country.

"Danzo," she suggested recklessly out of the blue and quickly regretted it.

Just the wily old, one-eyed bastard's name was enough to make her scowl in disgust. Even so, this was one of those times when she wished she could simply ask the man what he thought and get a straight answer.

That was impossible of course. The councilor pursued his own agenda to the exclusion of all else so she could never trust anything he told her. In his eyes, just asking would be an admission of uncertainty or even incompetence – more fuel for his ideological fire.

That Danzo and his cohorts in Root had supported and kept secret the Sand and Sound's infiltration cell was almost certain. Those enemy shinobi were going to be held in reserve; a card to be played at just the right moment.

_Like to take the blame for my assassination,_ Tsunade considered, jaw tightening.

The Hokage waved the thought away. That kind of speculation was over the top…not because she thought Danzo above such a thing morally, but because it was impolitic, not to mention sloppy and desperate – two things the man was not.

_But it would be nice to have another pair of eyes look at this, someone with experience who might see the things I'm blind to._

Wasn't she telling someone just the other day how asking for help when you needed it was a sign of maturity?

_Kiba, _Tsunade remembered, _that's who it was, Kiba Inuzuka. I'd assigned him to guard Haku._

"And Haku is from Wave Country."

The woman chuckled a little at her frustration. Now her own thoughts were taking her in circles!

_Maybe I'll ask Shikamaru…_

* * *

**Haku**

The old factory complex lay broken and twisted, canted at strange angles half-submerged into the earth.

Visiting this battlefield again, Haku hoped, would put him in the right mind-set for the training he needed. It was hard to manage just now because Mari was upset with him. She had not taken the news well.

_Did I really think she would?_ the young shinobi asked himself. '_Hi, Mari, I just need to go back to the Hidden Mist Village for a bit; long enough to stop some insane ninjas with strange powers from killing everyone in the city.'_

He hadn't put it quite like that, but he might as well have. So: no, didn't go well.

Mari hadn't offered any argument Haku hadn't already had with himself but she'd surely exposed how feeble his plan really was and how few solid reasons he had for going.

To Kirigakure no Sato itself, an institution that had hunted Haku relentlessly after his master's coup, that killed innocents as naturally and thoughtlessly as most people breathed and excreted, and that had a long, long list of evils to answer for, he owed not a thing.

But its citizens were just people, fellow human beings like him, who only wanted to pursue their lives. To them he owed (or FELT he owed) at least an effort to save them. Not even trying, that would be like...that would be like…

The ninja sighed, failing to finish the thought.

_And Tohma and Tsujita?_

Haku frowned. It would be such a simple matter to inform Orimi Hirai of their plans. One word to her great-great-grandfather Kisshomaru or the Mizukage and all the forces of the Hidden Mist Village would descend upon the pair and all the rest of the clan survivors like Hell's own wrath.

So no, he couldn't do that either.

Even if the patriarchs had lost their minds to revenge and were willing to forfeit their lives, undoubtedly they hadn't figured on what would happen to those in their care should they fail. Haku owed them an effort too.

As he summed it up, it seemed weak – a moral exercise that had him snared in its peculiar logic.

To Mari it had been much, much worse than that -- pure selfishness, or stupidity, or some mindless, testosterone-fueled ninja bullsh-t. And she wasn't really totally wrong, was she? Either way, shocking her like that, disappointing and angering her like that left Haku feeling scant, hollow and generally worthless. For someone who'd once set his path toward protecting those who were precious to him, now it seemed that he was going to abandon them to come to the defense of…total strangers.

Haku let out a breath.

_There was no way she could have seen that coming,_ he thought guiltily as he bit self-consciously at his thin lips, _no way could she have been prepared._

Almost always since they'd known each other the ninja had been more than happy to accede to Mari's wishes, finding surprising happiness in hers.

"But not this time," he muttered to the ruins.

The memory of the girl's dark eyes swimming in tears; her freckled face constricted with the anguish he'd caused were not things he could easily set aside.

His students, Inari and Chuuya had, by contrast, been relatively easy to tell – almost TOO easy. Maybe it was because they were boys raised on a steady diet of adventure novels, action movies and manga that the idea of Haku playing the 'hero' and going alone to Kirigakure to prevent a catastrophe didn't seem like the sheer insanity it was. That or, being their sensei, they had an inflated opinion of his powers. In any event, they'd seemed to accept his reasons for going and understood that he could very well not come back.

The one thing Haku had avoided explaining was that he was going to have to _kill _Nikai and Tsujita. This was not a rescue mission but an assassination, pure and simple. Though he'd soft-peddled that part, saying he wanted to 'stop' the patriarchs, _intercept _them, or _talk _them out of it somehow, in every scenario he'd run in his mind the only way he ever succeeded or even survived was by striking first – unleashing the full power of his kekkei-genkai and flash-freezing the two solid, them and their microscopic arsenals, as Haku had almost done to Tensai Kaguya.

'Assassination,' the word hounded him. The very idea was a betrayal of his new-found nindo. But if anything was becoming clear, it was that what this mission called for was not soft-hearted Constable Okame…but The Demon's Apprentice.

* * *

**Inari**

In a small forest clearing the two boys, Chuuya and Inari sparred – a light back-and-forth exercise that focused on movement more than power. The larger, heavier Chuuya still preferred linear, aggressive techniques but he no longer charged or overcommitted himself in his attacks. Inari tended to favor a more elusive style, retaliating with counters; but there was foundation in his posture now and _aiki_ in his movements, so he not so easy to steamroll anymore.

After an especially long and fluid back-and-forth series of exchanges the two broke apart, struck theatrical poses that seemed particularly ninja-esque then couldn't help but smile at their progress. Almost as one though, their expressions turned bittersweet – weighed by the shared knowledge that their sensei, Haku, was going to have to leave soon.

The fact hung over them like a pall but they had to accept it. That IS what ninjas did, wasn't it – go on dangerous missions, face certain death in service to their lords or, in Haku and Naruto's case, a broader ideal?

Both had come far in their training over such a sort time, but one thing that proved they still had a long way to go was that neither had noticed they were being watched, and that they had been for some time.

Chuuya startled, almost squealing as he jumped, which made Inari startle.

"MAN!" stormed Chuuya petulantly with fists balled at his sides. "Don't DO that, Mari."

Inari turned his ebon eyes toward his partner's older sister who sat atop a rock just upslope from them. Mari's dark-eyed gaze drifted down at Chuuya's rough greeting and her distant expression lifted into a ragged smile.

"So what's up?" the youngest Tezuka continued. "I thought you hated ninja stuff."

Mari canted her head with a forced and awkward-looking nonchalance. "'Just came to watch 'cause I know you practice here sometimes," she said in a subdued tone. "You guys actually look pretty good. Y'know…like you know what you're doing."

Chuuya glanced toward Inari who only shrugged at this strange turn.

"So…you guys are, like, real ninjas now."

Inari, flushed and sweating from sparring practice, smiled keenly. "You bet!" He stepped up with a playful swagger. "No one can take us –."

"No, Mari," Chuuya interrupted with an uncharacteristic forthcoming that let Inari know there was a lot more being said here than any family outsider could ever follow from just the words. "We only each know one jutsu…and we got a ton of stuff to learn before we can even be genin." Inari saw the seriousness work its way over his partner's pudgy face as the older boy asked: "Why?"

Mari's eyes pinched shut like she was going to cry, but then she reached over her head and took off the necklace Haku had given her, the single jade ring inscribed with characters that he'd picked up in Konoha, and held it out to them.

"Because I think," she began in a voice strained with emotion, "maybe, it's time for a mission…a _real_ one."

* * *

_**Thanks for reading!**_

_**--Jonohex'**_


	17. Complicated Shadows Part 4

_Hi, and thanks for coming back! Is there anyone reading fanfiction over Spring Break? :)_

_--Jonohex_

* * *

**The Ice Garden**

Arriving on horseback, for the lone road to the abandoned factory complex had become quite overgrown during Gato's reign, the survey crew found themselves passing unexpectedly into a dense, cold fog – unheard of at this time of year in Wave Country.

Nevertheless, the men and women decided to press on. They were being very well paid to map the area and note any alterations in the terrain made by the ninja-battle some months back that had destroyed the place, and their tight schedule suggested strongly that they didn't have time for a second trip. As things stood, the crew's transits were unusable but they were hopeful that the mist would burn off later in the day.

Like discoverers venturing upon the shores of a strange country, the team pushed slowly though the billows then goggled in astonishment at what lay beyond – a frozen world of ice and snow.

The factory ruins that sprawled, cracked open and canted at bizarre angles, half-sunk into the earth, were expected but they were populated now with strange shapes which clung to the walls or stood boldly in its courts amidst drifts of wintry white. Only after the more intrepid members of the crew dared to draw closer did they see that these surreal forms were of ice: ice in all its varieties, slick and glistening or rough and jagged, icicles hanging in scimitar draperies, bulging globes and peacock fans both cloudy and translucent. Sculptural forms of all descriptions twisted around each other in fanciful coral landscapes where some were smooth and round and inviting to the touch while others threatened with razor points.

After the survey team had gotten past the shock and exhausted all speculation about who or what might be the cause, they came together to try and decide what to do next.

Documenting all this in their report was going to be tough.

* * *

**Haku**

* * *

**My death waits there among the leaves**

**In magicians' mysterious sleeves**

**Rabbits and dogs and the passing time.**

**My death waits there among the flowers,**

**Where the blackest shadow,**

**Blackest shadow cowers…**

**But whatever lies behind that door**

**There is nothing much to do.**

**Angel or Devil, I don't care**

**For in front of that door, there is you.**

--David Bowie, 'My Death'

* * *

The ship, a sea and rust stained, noisy, smoking, clattering creature of drab-painted, bulky, bolted steel, swayed up and down in its berth, pulling gently against the tethers of heavy rope that restrained it to the Wave Country dock. Passengers filed up the gangway, workmen mostly with overstuffed duffle bags, en-route to vacations home from their duties with the seemingly endless construction. The view of the coastline beyond and all the many proud, new buildings underway, shining brightly in the mid-morning sun served to highlight the fruits of their efforts.

Haku, meanwhile, stood on the ship's upper deck close to the prow and cast his grey-eyed gaze seaward, ignoring diesel fumes. Involuntarily, his hands tightened on the guardrail. As passengers milled down below, the ninja let out a breath and couldn't help but wonder if this was the last time he'd ever see his adopted home.

_It's just a mission,_ he again tried to convince himself.

Haku gave a fatalistic grin and shook his head, vowing not to dwell. Pointless speculation wasted energy and distracted from the task at hand. Master Zabuza never would have approved.

How easy it had been to write off Tohma and Tsujita as a couple of cranks with overly-developed senses of self-importance. Over the course of his association with the Demon of the Hidden Mist, The Demon's Apprentice had run into dozens and dozens of ninjas like that – men and women whose abilities fell short of their soaring, monomaniacal dreams; ninja who'd become so awestruck at their own powers that they'd succumbed to fantasies about what that power meant and what it entitled them to. And though Haku hated to admit it, Zabuza himself probably fit into that catagory. Only later did the teenager learn of the Tsujita lord's ghastly talents – a kekkei-genkai that could very well turn Tohma's plan for the destruction of Kirigakure into horrifying reality.

So now Haku was ready to set sail on a journey to murder them: these two men who, in a way, were the closest thing to flesh-and-blood relatives that he had left in the world. And where he was going was, not merely the place he wished to visit again least but, without a doubt the most dangerous place for a fugitive like Haku to trespass: Kirigakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Mist.

Just thinking about those brooding, claustrophobic streets and black-watered canals made him cringe.

_It's not too late,_ a voice begged him, urging reconsideration. _Go home_, it insisted._ Live your life. You have no part in this. The Mist Village has an ocean of blood on its hands. Who's to say this isn't justice?_

It was times like this when the teenager really wished he had a sensei to turn to for guidance, one with a more level head and a greater breadth of experience than Zabuza Momochi.

_Asking Orimi was out of a question,_ Haku remembered then mused:_ but I wonder what Kakashi Hatake would say._

From what Naruto and Inari had told him, the leaf-jonin had wisdom (not to mention tolerance) but getting past the man's aloof nature seemed like it could be a challenge. It was as if maybe he needed distraction from the hard experiences he'd endured to gain that wisdom.

But, for reasons the young shinobi couldn't completely fathom, the man Haku really wanted to consult with most at this moment was Toru Yamashite, the ANBU pack-leader who'd hunted him so relentlessly. There was a ninja a great deal more sagacious than he let on and certainly more than he appeared.

_'The future will be your epitaph'_ – those had been the mist-jonin's final words to him.

Looking back, Haku had to wonder maybe if Yamashite had seen this coming.

* * *

The last few hours before Haku's departure had not been spent like he'd thought and the ninja had found himself running around at the last minute packing for his mission then trying without success to find Mari, Chuuya and Inari.

The young constable had spent almost all the previous days absorbed in his training, unreachable for the most part and reluctant to talk during those rare occasions when he did surface. The brief, tense and painful conversations with Mari during that time had all given way to arguments that only frustrated and distanced them even further.

Chuuya and Inari were nowhere to be found and, when Haku thought about it, he realized he hadn't seen either of his students in awhile.

Asking after them, Chuuya's brothers claimed the two were off on some kind of camping trip. Going to Tazuna's house, Inari's mother, Tsunami told the ninja the same thing and seemed surprised that _he_ didn't know about it. This was all a painful frustration – that he wouldn't be able to bid them a final farewell. But it was his own fault, the ninja realized, expecting them to be around just because he wanted them to be.

Having resigned himself, Haku double-checked that he'd packed everything he needed then searched the house one last time for the two boys and for Mari though without success. Of his students, Haku had no idea where they'd gone off to but he half-suspected his girlfriend might be avoiding him, so furious for what he was about to do that she couldn't even look at him anymore. Only when the slender ninja left, headed for the docks with backpack in hand, did he find Mari sitting there on the porch steps, waiting.

The girl rose as Haku stopped, brought up short.

"Mari…" the teenager offered at last in tones of pure sorrow, not knowing what else to say.

The girl shook her head. "I didn't want…I didn't want the last thing you heard from me before you went away to be me yelling at you."

"Mari --," Haku tried again in a halting voice that bordered desperation but --.

"Listen," she cut him off. "I understand what you're trying to do; I do! But as far as I'm concerned the Hidden Mist Village can look after itself. That's what it's got all those ninjas for. But there's only one of you; only one! And the only one watching out for you…is me. So I hope you'll understand --." Mari didn't finish the sentence and instead grabbed Haku hard by the shoulders before pulling him into her arms. _"Just come back, Haku, ok?!"_

The one-time Demon's Apprentice clung to her fiercely then forced himself to make a promise he knew he might not be able to keep: "I will."

* * *

In a flurry of activity and shouted instructions, deckhands untied the ropes from their moorings and pulled up the gangways. The smokestacks coughed grey geysers into the fumy air and the boat lurched before chugging forward in slow, purposeful motion.

_Here we go_, thought Haku, setting his eyes on the horizon and the uncertain future that waited beyond it. _There's nothing for it now._

_"WAIT! WAIT!" _a voice cried suddenly from dockside, a tenor whose strident quality made it easily distinguishable even over the rumbling engines, slapping waves and ever-increasing distance. **"STOP THAT BOAT!"**

The young ninja spun toward the sound, his face a mask of disbelief for there was no way it could be the person whose voice that was.

"Impossible," Haku muttered to himself, shading his eyes and staring hard at the small, blond figure dressed all in orange who flew in a desperate, breathless, all-out run down the dock. "But," Haku insisted uselessly, "it can't be…it just can't."

Rather than stopping at the edge of the dock, the pursuer launched himself at the departing transport with a soaring, chakra-fueled leap. Haku stared first in wonder as the ninja vanished into the sun's glare then with alarm as he saw that the boy wasn't going to make it.

The dandelion-haired figure landed in the ship's churning wake but the rippling waves bowed concave under chakra-pressure as the genin coiled himself then sprang again from the water. On toward the boat he flew but, having pushed off such an uneven surface, the blond started slowly to spin out of control. Puzzled passengers looked back at the little stranger, some laughing, cheering and shouting.

Sailing through the air, the oncoming orange ninja's wide, expressive, blue-eyed face went in a blink from worried to panic-stricken; his arms and legs waved franticly. "Whoa…whoa! WHOA!" he cried as his twirling plunge took him below the deck-line where he slammed hard into the boat's steel hull with a loud clang that raised a chorus of shocked gasps from both passengers and Haku alike.

Leaping down to the foredeck even before he heard the resounding splash that followed, Haku raised a hand, ready to send water clones in for a rescue, but stopped when a dripping-wet, orange-sleeved arm flopped in over the guard-wall. The arm was joined by a blue, open-toed boot at the end of an equally-orange and equally-drenched, bandage-wrapped leg. In a sudden, lurching movement, the two limbs worked in concert to haul the rest of the bright-clothed body over where it landed on the deck with a soggy 'splat' at Haku's feet.

Haku, puzzled beyond belief, looked down into what was, undeniably, Naruto Uzumaki's haggard, wet face.

The smaller ninja huffed for breath, yellow hair plastered to his head, chest heaving like bellows as his eyes of fiery, brilliant blue glared back.

"Naruto?" Haku greeted faintly then extended his hand to help him up and was surprised again when the blond swatted it away.

"I _thought_ we were friends!" barked Naruto, his cheeks flushed, as he sat up, wiped his face then slogged to his feet.

Taken aback by the remark and the intensity of the anger in the leaf-ninja's whisker-marked face, Haku startled as Naruto's onrushing fist shot toward him.

* * *

**Two Days Ago**

Izumo rose from his seat at the guard kiosk, face pinched in disbelief, as two strange boys stumbled in through the East Gate accompanied by Rock Lee.

The bandana-wearing chunin shook his head while his spiky-haired, perpetually bandaged teammate, Kotetsu, chuckled at the novelty.

The skinnier of the two young arrivals clutched his floppy, white hat in hand and wiped a smiling, exhausted face as he stared in elated wonder at the vista unfolding before him radiant in the orange glory of the late afternoon sun – Konohagakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

"We made it!" gasped the boy who then went to brace his heavier friend who remained doubled-over like he was going to puke. "Chuuya, look! We made it!"

"Hey, that's great!" chimed Izumo, giving a hearty 'thumbs-up' as the two guards came around to have a look at the newcomers. "Now you kids can just turn your little asses around and head right back to wherever it is you came from."

"What?!" piped Rock Lee. "Mr. Kamizuki, you can't mean that. Chuuya and Inari here told me they came all the way from _Wave Country_."

"Come on, Lee," Izumo chastised, "you know the Leaf Village is no place for tourists."

Lee seemed like he was inclined to agree but grinned sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. "Actually…there's, uh, something else you should know --."

"Hey, hold on you two," cautioned Kotetsu as he moved to block the two boys from sneaking past.

The chubby one with the big head brushed the ninja's gently-restraining hand from his shoulder. "Back OFF, haircut! Let us in already!" he barked in a brassy, boat-whistle voice.

The leaf-ninja grinned in begrudging admiration but then drew himself up authoritatively. "Hey, you kids can't just --."

"SURE we can!" cried Chuuya as he thrust his hand right in front of Kotetsu's surprised face. In it he clutched a necklace – a single jade ring that the Hokage herself lent to visiting dignitaries.

Kotetsu blinked as the ring swung back and forth in steady, metronomic arcs.

"That is what I was trying to tell you," offered Lee in an awkward tone.

Izumo frowned, marched over, snatched the necklace and inspected it closely.

"See that?!" Chuuya challenged, standing proudly. "You GOT to let us in now."

The leaf-ninja narrowed his eyes. "Uh-huh. Yeah, ok," he allowed gruffly, "this _is _one of the Hokage's passes. I don't know how you kids got a hold of one, but there ain't no way --."

"Please, Sir," begged Inari. "We don't really need to come in. We just need to talk to Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki, for a second; just for a second. He's a ninja here – wears orange, uh, kinda spiky yellow hair, a little taller than me…"

The two ninja guards looked down at the boy then at each other.

"Naruto, huh?" muttered Izumo.

Kotetsu made a face. "How come I'm not surprised."

* * *

**Haku**

Caught off-guard, Haku stumbled back, feeling Naruto's furious punch graze his cheek. As the blows rained down, the Wave Country constable ducked and covered, weaving erratically until he was able to clinch. Hugging tightly, the teenager hoped the genin wasn't mad enough to _knee_ him. After a good full minute of struggle, the leaf-ninja quieted down and the two stood there on the rocking, wind-blown deck in cautious near-embrace.

"I…I _am_ your friend, Naruto," ventured Haku, still mystified.

The tension in Naruto's body returned as the leaf-ninja shoved the constable off.

"**NO!**" the blond growled savagely, white teeth bared, fists balled, his eyes sapphire flames. "REAL friends _depend_ on each other. REAL friends **RELY** on each other! They don't just—just—just go off and _leave_ without a word. They don't go off to get killed like -- like nobody else exists; _like nobody even cares!_ After everything we've BEEN through!"

_How…how could he know?!_ Haku thought then at once remembered Mari, what she'd said and what she hadn't. A picture was staring to emerge.

In the fire of the genin's anger Haku stood, staring dumbly, until at last he blinked then hung his head. "You're right, Naruto, I didn't even think about you." The yellow-haired ninja's eyes went wide with hurt before the former Demon's Apprentice finished: "but I should have.

"I guess it's because I'm not used to having friends," the constable continued introspectively over the sound of wind, waves and growling engines, "so maybe I don't know all the rules like where the responsibilities begin or end." Turning away with a sad smile, Haku explained: "But even if I had thought about enlisting your help, Naruto, I would never, ever ask you to go where I'm going to do what I have to do."

Haku's expression shifted as he turned to level a look at the leaf-ninja, nursing a bruise then brushing ribbons of black hair from the otherwise porcelain features of his girlish face. "I know what you're thinking, Naruto, so just to be clear," he stated direly, "I am NOT _Sasuke._ So please don't take me for him. I'm not driven by 'inner demons' or anything like that." Frowning in thought, the teenager's brow furrowed. "And I'm not _you_ either, Naruto. I have nothing to prove to anyone. I don't have to be a kage or hold a position of importance.

"If I could just stay in Wave Country, an ordinary constable," Haku confided, "beating up bad guys and rescuing cats from trees I could be very happy…as long as I was with Mari, and I had my students and my friends." The slender shinobi gave the young leaf-ninja a faint, heartfelt smile, "friends like you, Naruto.

"But the thing is," he added after a moment's pause, "the price for all of that...are the lives of every man, woman and child in Kirigakure."

The wind blowing past the two ninjas shifted as the sea-liner changed course slightly. Choppy waves broke over the hull, sending up occasional gusts of cool, salt-scented mist.

"I know," said Naruto firmly; sympathetic but at the same time adamant. "That's why **I'M** going with you."

Haku blew out a breath and gently shook his head.

"After what Mari told me," the grinning blond offered, "I don't think I have a choice."

Haku, immediately curious now, did a double-take then looked back with a troubled expression. "What…what did she say?"

The genin's cerulean eyes lifted in thought. "Well after she bitched me out for being late it was kinda like: 'if you're half as strong a ninja as he says you are or half as good a friend, you will **FIX THIS SH-T**!'" Naruto couldn't resist a mischievous snicker.

A lopsided grimace crossed Haku's face. Distantly, he could just remember having told the girl a little while ago that Naruto was 'one of the most powerful shinobis he'd ever known,' or something like that. Perhaps she'd taken the remark to heart.

"Sounds like her," Haku commented then stated seriously: "But I _will not_ allow you to come along on a mission like this just because Mari _browbeat_ you."

The blond answered him with wry grin and gently upheld hands. "Take it easy, will ya? I know the whole story. Besides, between the two of us, this mission's a piece of cake."

Haku's eyes widened at the absurdity of the remark. "Naruto, I – wait a minute," his expression went from grim to grave. "Naruto, you…you didn't go '_missing'_ to come here did you?"

Naruto looked at him in shock. "What, ME, a nukenin?" he cried. "No way! I love Konoha, I'd never just leave!"

"Oh, ok, then. So," the slender shinobi muttered as he tried to figure it out, "Lady Tsunade, she just let you go? I don't know her well but that doesn't sound at all like something she'd ever agree to."

Naruto smiled awkwardly. "Um, not really, but don't worry about it. I got it covered."

Haku's concerned, grey eyes leveled. "Naruto," he inquired warily, "how exactly do you 'got it covered'?"

* * *

At that moment, in Naruto's apartment in the Hidden Leaf Village, Inari sat and stared at Chuuya over the top of the genin's little dining room table.

Chuuya sat and stared back.

"So…what do you wanna do?"

Inari shrugged. "I dunno. What do _you_ wanna do?

Chuuya shrugged, frowned then asked, "What do we do if someone shows up looking for Naruto?"

"Naruto said I should use my transformation jutsu and pretend to be him, only with a really bad cold or something."

"What about me?"

The younger boy grinned abstractly. "Use your nin-jutsu to hide, I guess."

* * *

"Oh, NO, Naruto!" wailed Haku who flinched away only to turn right back. "Chuuya and Inari are in this too?!"

The blonde's golden brows narrowed. "What are you so mad about?"

"They're just little kids, Naruto! They're not ninjas!"

"Calm DOWN, will you?" argued the genin. "All they got to do is watch my place. How hard is that? I left a note for the Hokage saying that I didn't feel good. I called in sick! She's not going to put me on any missions when I'm sick; ya' see?"

Haku huffed angrily, trying hard to stay calm. "They're trespassing in a ninja village, and covering for you. I'm sure you think it's clever but not every ninja in Konoha has a sense of humor; it's dangerous!"

"It's not THAT dangerous and anyway they volunteered!" countered Naruto.

"They're _too young_ to volunteer!"

"Oh, really?" Naruto crossed his arms, his eyes pinching to slits. "What were YOU doing when you were ten?"

The constable's expression flickered. "That was different."

"Uh-huh. You made your choice and they made theirs – to protect those precious to them, or do I got it wrong?"

Haku frowned as he turned away and leaned on the rail, gazing down at the churning waters, hating having his own words thrown back at him like this.

"Look, stop worrying," Naruto assured him, "it's simple! It's like three days to Kirigakure. So it goes like this: three days there; one day to stop the bad guys; three days back; I double-time it back to the Leaf Village and BOOM! DONE! Inari and Chuuya go back to Wave Country and nobody'll even know I was gone!"

Feeling as if his life had been high-jacked by lunatics, Haku fumed.

Naruto added: "We kinda got to do this quick anyway 'cause I'm all outta food and only packed a couple-a changes of underwear."

That tore it. Haku whirled on the blond. "Naruto! I don't know what the h--," he began furiously then stopped short at the weary look on the leaf-ninja's face.

Underneath Naruto's buoyant optimism, Haku saw that the young ninja was aware of a lot more than he let show. He _did_ understand that there would be consequences should his absence from the Leaf Village be discovered, for him as well as Chuuya and Inari. He understood where Haku was going and why, what lay ahead…and was STILL hopeful.

The constable stood, frozen by his yellow-haired friend's tired but generous smile as it dawned on him that Naruto had _run_ here, all the way from the Hidden Leaf Village. A journey of several days – Naruto had done it in one, running fast all day and night without rest, pushing his body past all endurance and burning through his endless reserves of chakra. Naruto had done that for him just as Chuuya and Inari had left the only homes they'd ever known, just as Mari had sent her own little brother and his friend into the unknown.

A shiver passed through Haku and his lips trembled that he should matter that much to anyone; as much as Zabuza had meant to _him_. Though he couldn't help but repudiate the thoughtlessness of his friends, he stood utterly humbled by their motives.

"I guess," the young constable muttered, forcing good cheer as he set aside his misgivings, "I guess it could be as simple as you said."

Naruto smiled endearingly in return, staggered forward and hung his arm around Haku. "That's the spirit," he chirped then sagged against him. "But, um, is there anything to eat around here? I'm _STARVING_!"

* * *

**Games of Chance**

Ten miles offshore from Kirigakure, Pradesh Singh waited in The Sophae's aerie, pacing disquietedly back and forth on the textured, steel deck. Though the weather on the seas was rough that evening, all around the ship it was calm and still – the results of a jutsu-enforced sphere of perfect peace that rendered the gusting winds quiet and the white-capped waves smooth and flat as a pane of dark glass.

Within ten minutes of one another, seven strong ospreys arrived with messages tethered to their legs. While the powerful sea-birds rested, fed and preened, the mist-ninja took their scrolls then headed below-decks, past guards who parted for the swarthy mist-jonin on sight.

Entering the cryptography suite, Pradesh flipped on the lights and found, as he knew he would, eight ninjas sitting right there at their carrels with backs rigid and hands resting lightly in their laps. None looked up or gave much of any reaction at all until Lady Inoue's head of security distributed the scrolls whereupon they went right to work with grid paper and pencils.

Pradesh grunted then retired to the back of the room to wait. There was no sense in cajoling or threatening them for he knew that they were already going much faster than humanly possible. The algorithms it took to decrypt Inoue's codes were extremely complex and laborious to calculate, but with the surgeries these special shinobi had undergone and the jutsu worked upon their minds they enjoyed little else.

In less than an hour, Pradesh had his answers and a glimpse of the future more daunting than any oracle had ever prophesized. And though he was considered callous, even among Kiri-ninja, still a tremor of trepidation passed through him.

* * *

Along the bow of the ship, Pradesh found his master looking out over the artificially-quiet sea with arms clasped behind her. The ninja waited to be recognized as was proper.

After a few moments, the old councilwoman straightened as she drew a deep breath, adjusted her shawl then spoke calmly: "So what's the word?"

Pradesh came forward. "Lady Inoue, Pack-Leader Kazu's report confirms that Noriyasu Tsujita and an unknown man are inside Kirigakure. His team spotted them crossing the Bridge of Sighs."

The kunoichi nodded. "Very good," she replied, "just as expected – to coincide with the ascension ceremonies. But we're leaving nothing to chance now, right?"

"No, my lady. The contagion has already been released. At the week's end, the blood-gifted lord and his companion will be killed in public and their identities leaked. By then, casualties from the outbreak should be in the hundreds; the week after that – in the thousands.

"When a state of emergency is declared you will have more than enough support from the Daimyo and among the Lords of Water Country to have supreme authority ceded to you here aboard The Sophae. Once the new chain of command is established and an order of quarantine imposed, three divisions of Lord Muso's, Jinsuke's, Asano's and Kusonoki's marine regulars stand ready to land south of Kirigakure while another three of Lord Kiyomori's and Lady Nimmyo's will land to the east. Five sapper companies from those same forces, protected by mist-ninja platoons recalled from the field, will destroy the causeways and aqueducts, sealing off the city."

"And it's confirmed," Inoue inquired, "that our lord Mizukage and Councilor Kisshomaru Hirai are inside?"

Pradesh swallowed hard as he skipped past the unspoken. "Yes, my Lady. They are expected to remain until the ceremonies are complete. The order of quarantine will strip them of all rank."

The councilwoman merely hummed in quiet contemplation.

"My Lady…the other Hidden Villages, the other Elemental Nations," the jonin ventured unprompted for the first time in his career, "I understand that they will stay out of the Land of Water's internal matters, but will they really sit back and do nothing when you annex Wave Country?"

"Nothing that can't be managed," explained Inoue with a slight shrug. "The only village in position, geographically, to do anything about is Konohagakure and they don't have the forces to risk. They'd be leaving themselves undefended if they attacked in numbers sufficient enough to matter." The white-haired woman shut her eyes meditatively as she continued, "We're going to lose a lot of our shinobi in this 'transition' but the numbers still favor us because we're starting with more. And," she added significantly, "I still have my Nephilim Guard should worse come to worse."

Pradesh frowned. "But the Lord of Fire Country could still _order_ the Leaf to attack, and that country's daimyo all have their own armies and some their own navies."

"But they won't use them," clarified the councilwoman, expressing utmost confidence. "Too many people, in places low and high, have too much at stake. They'll lose it all if there's a war. In the meantime, I will guarantee a return on the money they've invested in the Land of Waves…not as much as they hoped they might get, but still, a modest, guaranteed profit looks a whole lot better than a total loss."

"I see," said the ninja, embarrassed that he'd ever harbored a doubt. "Of course you've thought everything through, Lady Inoue. Or, should I call you 'Mizukage'"?

"No, not yet…not yet," advised the kunoichi. "Even with the deck stacked it's still a game of chance, but I think things should go as planned. History will judge us, based on our success, as either heroes or devils but I've never been more hopeful. It's high time for Kirigakure to move beyond it's unfortunate past and to again take a role in the world under a new paradigm, to have a place in the sun (so to speak) closer to the action.

"And though it's not exactly 'hidden', I think Wave Country will be a fine location…for the _new_ Kirigakure no Sato."

Pradesh grinned tightly, following his master's gaze as she looked out over the unnaturally calmed sea.

"Oh, and Pradesh?" added Inoue, though her commands were far from an afterthought. "Order the fire-tongue fleet into action. Lord Nikai's 'habitat' must be laid waste and, after that, Castle Hirai. Leave no one alive."

* * *

_SO, ok...it's not Sasuke who comes to Haku's aid in this story, but THAT would've been a surprise, huh? Lol ;) Also, I'd like to explain since a couple of people have asked -- I won't be incorporating the latest revelations about the Mist Village from the manga. Hope that's ok ^^'._

_Thanks for reading, I hope you like it so far and that you'll come back for the next 'arc' of _**Kirigakure's Shore:**

_The Jinchuuriki's Mandate_

_Haku and Naruto are on a journey to stop the Hidden Mist Village from being destroyed. But vengeful ninjas possessing forgotten powers turn out to be the least of what the two must face as present-day ambitions collide with Kirigakure's dark past._


	18. The Jinchuuriki's Mandate Part 1

_Thanks for coming back. I hope you like Chapter 18 and the new story arc._

_--Jono'_

* * *

_Part 4 - The Jinchuuriki's Mandate_

_Haku and Naruto are on a journey to stop the Hidden Mist Village from being destroyed. But vengeful ninjas possessing forgotten powers turn out to be the least of what the two must face as present-day ambitions collide with Kirigakure's dark past._

* * *

**Crossroads**

The lone traveler slogged uphill through the morning mist, water beading against the grey armor of his mist-ANBU fatigues and bone-white zodiac mask. Though the sun shone and the cool air was full of heartening birdsong and the sounds of gentle nature slowing coming awake, the ninja was blind and deaf to it. Nothing could ever penetrate the gloom he carried with him, especially when there was work to do. His thick hands reached toward then tightened with anticipation around the handles of his signature weapons – a pair of double-barbed, 'lightning-fang' swords.

Over the crest of the hill the walls of the Five Songs Monastery rose into view. Only here did the broad-shouldered man pause then straighten with umbrage, for the stout, timber gates had already been smashed in.

Passing inside to a columned courtyard lined with fine trees and serene Buddhas, the stranger noted all the strewn clothing, pots and pans, farm tools, brooms, weapons, books and other items abandoned in haste, but then froze to listen when he heard, of all things…_laughter_ – the joyous, carefree laughter of purest youth.

Indifferent to it for now, the white-masked man paced to a watering trough, found a bucket and filled it then turned his head as a big, brown rabbit hopped out from a dark doorway followed eagerly by a little boy, or maybe it was a little girl, it was hard to tell at that age and anyway, he had long, raven hair and was wearing bulky, genderless traveling clothes.

In gleeful abandon the child chased the bunny, which didn't seem at all threatened and actually, very obligingly, stopped from time to time to give its happy, spirited pursuer a chance to catch up.

Around and around, this way and that, the boy (or girl) chased the rabbit until he was completely spent then flopped down to hands and knees before rolling over on his back to rest carelessly in the grass, staring up at the morning sky, panting for breath.

"The monks decided to leave," growled the shadows with an unforgettable air of cold, familiar malice, "_brother_ swordsman."

The mist-ninja's head swiveled toward the voice. He took off his mask then, revealing startlingly unexpected features: a thick-boned but rounded face; wide, heavy lips; sweeping, jet eyebrows and large, dark-lined eyes that were grey rings within grey rings.

"Funny how that always happens when _you_ show up, Momochi," said the newcomer who frowned critically then took a sloppy gulp of water before remarking: "I don't see any bodies."

"I'm in a good mood today, Raiga, so I gave them five seconds to clear the f-ck out."

Raiga stared in disbelief at his fellow ANBU, only just visible now as a dark shape lounging in a colonnade's enveloping shade. A breach of protocol like this was unheard of, especially from HIM.

The child laughed again having, apparently, recovered long enough to rejoin the chase.

"So," began Raiga with what was at best casual interest, "who's the kid?"

"My _apprentice_," Zabuza explained with an air of significance as the infamous shinobi rose then strolled into view – a chiseled figure with eyes as cold as any man had ever seen, grey as storm-clouds, hovering like dead suns over the wrapping that masked the lower portion of his cruel face.

Again, disbelief. "What?" scoffed the ANBU who could only shake his head and assume his disagreeable colleague was kidding. "Yeah, sure – your 'apprentice'." Raiga crossed his arms and stared dubiously at The Demon of the Hidden Mist's supposed student who looked to be as goofy, giggly, pale and delicate a creature as they came.

"He has a kekkei-genkai."

Raiga looked again at the child then back toward Zabuza. "You're actually serious," the dour ninja marveled. "Which bloodline? I thought they were all dead, a long time ago."

"Aramata Clan."

The man's already-large eyes went even wider. Though he lacked humor, a grave gust of harsh laughter escaped him. "You've completely lost your mind, do you know that? The new Mizukage's already disbanded us Seven Swordsman, got Hunter-ninja Packs scouring the globe for Hoshigake, hates _your_ ass and CLEARLY wanted all the monks in this temple killed and not just run off. You're making the rest of us look bad. And NOW you're gonna adopt THAT," he brayed critically as his already-irritable mood rose to anger. Specks of choleric foam dribbled from his mouth as he thrust a pointed finger toward the little boy and continued: "train THAT; have THAT following you around like-like-like, like some kind of PET or something?

"Just what is it with you, huh?" Raiga went on with his remonstration. "You're a stone-cold killer…massacred your entire class of genin and hate people in general almost as much as I do but now you're telling me you're taking an apprentice and that he's this little kid, all slug-soft and helpless? That's BULLsh-t."

The Demon of the Hidden Mist only chuckled at his brother swordsman's annoyance. "The blood flowing in his veins makes him a union of two worlds," Zabuza explained, obviously _relishing_ the opportunity to do so, "and he belongs to an ages-old ninja clan that stretches back all the way to the very beginnings of the Land of Water. I know Haku doesn't look like much now but there is greatness in him, and in that greatness will I have a powerful weapon for _he and his hyouton powers will serve __**ME!**__"_

Raiga leveled a sour, disparaging and exasperated look back at 'Haku' who now sat crossed-legged on the ground, snuggling lovingly with his fluffy, long-eared pet; a beatific smile in full bloom over his sweaty, dirty, but still girlish face.

Though the ninja's first reaction was how completely ridiculous it all was – Zabuza the killer taking in some little kid, Zabuza waxing poetic on his own magnificence yet again – still, Raiga was struck as he felt an unwelcome sensation stir in the arid precincts of his long-untenanted heart. It was as if somehow that _he_ was the one who was ridiculous, as if maybe _he_ was the one missing out.

Raiga blinked and wiped his mouth with a sleeve, staring, momentarily transfixed at the improbable sight of this…this (could he even finish the thought!) this Demon's Apprentice.

After all, thought the ninja with a surprising ache, when was the last time HE'D been that happy about any damn thing?

* * *

**Pirates**

Standing at the bow of the Fata Morgana with the wind rippling through his uniform, Captain Oomori grinned as his ship pulled along side the clattering sea-liner.

"Really, Oomori," asked Mei-lin who leaned casually against the wall with her arms folded against the leather scales of her armored coat, "another shakedown?"

The Captain scowled at the mist-ninja's criticism. "What do you care?" he fired back. "You and your team'll get your cut just like usual."

"'Your call," the kunoichi remarked with a shrug then strolled away.

Baring a gap-toothed smile, the Captain ordered his boarding-parties ready and watched as they assembled on deck with weapons in hand. He didn't suppose that there would be any actual fighting. A show of force alone from one of Lord Jinsuke's patrol ships was always enough to convince anyone that it was much better to pay an unofficial 'fee' than suffer the consequences.

Looking across at the vessel, Oomori's eyes narrowed at the sight of one small, crazy-looking, yellow-haired kid in an ANBU mask, standing alone amidships in ill-fitting mist-ninja fatigues.

"What the hell is this?" he wondered as the tiny guardian put his hands together to form a seal.

Suddenly the whole deck of the targeted ship was jam-packed with identical shinobi who all drew kunai then stood as if ready for all-out war.

"Mei-lin!" Oomori cried. "Mei --!" The captain's eyes went wide as he felt a thin arm drape lazily over his shoulders in a way that seemed terribly overly-familiar…except for that trio of senbon threatening his neck. That's when the officer noticed, hovering close to his ear, the white, zodiac mask of a ninja of the Hidden Mist he'd never seen before but who was now standing right beside him.

"How'd you get aboard my ship?" Oomori sneered.

"Ninjutsu," answered the stranger in a voice that disturbed with its lilting, matter-of-fact androgyny, "but you must have figured that out by now."

During this short discussion, the mob of blond ninjas guarding the sea-liner came swarming over the water, hopping from wave to wave like crickets across a field, then leaped to the deck of the Fata Morgana where the armed crew quickly and wisely backed away.

A tense silence followed until --.

"Hey, Senpai!" Mei-lin greeted the taller of the two shinobis from the deck of the bridge-house above, flanked by the three genin in her charge. "Don't kill him or it's my ass."

The ANBU declined to reply for a long time before he (she?) remarked, "It would serve you right for not keeping your dog on a leash."

The kunoichi hung her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Alright, alright, Captain Oomori got greedy. We didn't know you guys were on board; what can I say?"

"Well…being that you've delayed our mission," offered the ANBU with a disdainful sniff, "you might start with something that'll convince us not to kill everyone on this ship, including _you_."

* * *

**Naruto**

As he wandered up the cool and misty coastal road, Naruto Uzumaki looked around in an amazed sort of disapprobation. It had taken three days, changing ships twice while dodging, fighting, threatening or bribing privateers, pirates and patrol crews just to get to the island where Kirigakure no Sato could be found.

The thing that struck the young ninja most was how _weird _the place seemed. It was more than just the latitude or the landscape; it was the quality of the light…or, really, the lack of it. The perpetually overcast skies and misty air rendered everything into shades of grey like some of the grainy, black-and-white, olde-tyme movies he'd seen. Gone were the genin's Land of Fire sunshine and forests, where beaming sunlight danced with black shadows in a world of vivid color and contrasting depths. Here everything looked drab, dreary…and flat; the very spirit of the place seemed somber. It was hard to judge distances and the fog clung oppressively against the teenager's skin and seeped into his borrowed clothes. Inside of half-an-hour Naruto wished he was home, feeling like even more of an outsider than he still did at times back home.

Just ahead of him, Haku walked in silence. If the gothic change in the environment had affected him, the ninja hadn't said. The blond suspected that Zabuza's former student was still bugged about this mission, along with the genin's own non-negotiable decision to join him. Upon their arrival, Naruto had asked only about a thousand questions about practically everything before it eventually dawned on him that his friend really, really wanted quiet. It was all the leaf-ninja could do to bite his lip and try to oblige him.

_Haku,_ mused Naruto. Even now he still couldn't believe it sometimes.

Having seen so much death and destruction over his short career, including the Sandaime's sacrifice and the invasion of the Leaf Village, Haku's survival was something of a miracle.

The corners of his lips rising in thought, he'd never realized or appreciated just how much the girly ninja had meant to him, how much he'd regretted his death or how much he'd missed not getting the chance to be friends.

_Not until I got his letter!_ Naruto remembered fondly. _I almost flipped out!_

But the ninja's smile over the happy memory faded in time before the gravity of their current mission and the doom the descendants of Water Country's blood-gifted clans intended for their former village.

_He's a good guy, isn't he,_ said the young shinobi to himself, _going through all of this to save the people of a village that tried to kill him._

When he thought about it, Haku had been the first one who'd given him the idea that you could be a good ninja and still have a kind heart; that your way in life didn't have to be what anyone else said it should be. Haku had been the first to accept him for who he was despite his many (and even Naruto had to admit there were many) peculiarities: the way he looked, acted, dressed, the things he tended to say and the way he tended to say them…despite even the horror sealed inside him whose vast powers and sinister, supernatural character The Demon's Apprentice himself had experienced first hand.

Haku had been the first shinobi ever in who Naruto had found anything like a kindred spirit…even if the girlish ninja's master had been a cold-hearted killer.

In the back of Naruto's mind, the ghosts of his past failures lingered – not being able to save old man Hokage; not being able to stop Sasuke.

The yellow-haired boy's bright, blue eyes flickered up toward the slim profile of the young constable in front of him, and his lips pressed together in a thin, hard edge.

_But I CAN save HIM,_ Naruto reaffirmed fiercely. _And I WILL…no doubt about that!_

The fire of Naruto's usual determination and optimism yielded to acknowledge emotions yet more profound as he thought:_ As if I'd let him die twice._

* * *

Very contrary to his nature Naruto had stayed quiet for quite awhile as he and Haku followed the sea-shore but it was getting to be too much, especially when everything was so grey and sucky. More than that, he had a question he was just DYING to ask and he just couldn't hold off any longer!

"Hey, Haku," the blond ventured brashly, his gravelly tenor cutting through the haunted, mist-laden stillness, "if Kirigakure is THAT way," he jacked his thumb inland, "why are we going THIS way?"

The slender shinobi looked back at the genin, looked again and smirked. "You don't seem like yourself in that outfit. I still can't quite get used to it," observed Haku with a humorous, offhanded air. "You not in orange?" The ANBU-masked, raven-haired teenager shook his head. "It's just not right."

Naruto bridled at being reminded. Still, he found it quite reassuring to know that Haku's silences were thoughtful rather than brooding like **SOME** people. 'Kirigakure is not a place for bright colors or loud voices,' Haku had said early on in their journey, then given the leaf-ninja a set of his fatigues.

The blond looked down at his grey pant-legs, rolled up in cuffs, then up at the too-long rolled-up sleeves of the ill-fitting jacket. And though he'd thought the ANBU mask was very, VERY cool at first, it hung from his neck behind his head now because the thing was such a pain in the ass to wear. (How does anybody SEE anything?)

"Agh, I look stupid," Naruto grumbled as he kicked up a chunk of the lonely road's pavement of compacted sand, pebbles and seashells that crunched underfoot, "like I'm wearing hand-me-downs or something. How long to do I gotta wear this getup?"

"For as long as we're in Water Country, anyway. Come on."

With that, Haku veered from the path, proceeding upslope to the crest of a hill, then crouched down in the tall grass.

Naruto followed and knelt beside him then looked across a stretch of fog-shrouded delta to where a gloomy, patchwork city rose from the murk and dark waters. Waves lapped walls of ancient stone, stained by centuries of mist and rain. Deep colonnades and arched windows, all witnesses to the place's turbulent history, stared like skulls; their ornate, stone brows crowned by populations of angels and demons.

The leaf-ninja stared in open-mouthed wonder as his sapphire eyes tracked serpentine canals that wove through the city, creating tall, narrow canyons between the buildings. He looked then toward the slender, soaring aqueducts and wide bridges that zigzagged outward, web-like over the waters, connecting the secret city to the larger islands around it.

"So that's it, huh?" muttered Naruto, frozen by the sight. "Wow."

Haku nodded as if to himself. "That's it – Kirigakure no Sato, the Village Hidden in the Mist.

"The usual ways of getting there are by boat," the constable explained as he gestured to the port, which opened into a deep plaza fronted by imposing buildings, "or over those causeways. Either way, no one can enter without enduring a thorough inspection which, with me being a fugitive and you an 'enemy ninja', I presume neither of us would pass."

Naruto gave him a sure grin, the wind rustling through his thicket of yellow hair. "I'll just bet you know another way in."

Haku nodded. "I'm not you," he conceded humbly. "So I'm not so sure I would have come at all if I didn't at least know that."

* * *

**Chuuya and Inari**

"Chuuya, will you quit it!" cried Inari who looked up from the Konoha Ninja Training Manual, "you're driving me crazy!"

The bigger, black-haired boy slowed his random pacing but didn't (or rather couldn't) stop. "But this is so BORING!" the ten-year old lamented dramatically, fixing his partner with a pained look as he gestured contemptuously at the surroundings of Naruto's room: the planked floor covered here and there with threadbare rugs, stray clothes, books, scrolls, ninja weapons and old take-out containers; a wood wainscot above which hung an assortment of Leaf Village posters and advertisements for various brands of ramen. "We've been here like FOREVER. When's Naruto supposed to get back?"

Inari grimaced. "I wish I knew," he answered worriedly. "But you gotta know that he and Haku-sensei will get back as soon as they can. Hey," he suggested unimaginatively, a long-shot attempt to distract his teammate, "why don't you practice some more?"

Chuuya dragged both hands through coal-colored hair then down pudgy cheeks, stretching his young face. "We've BEEN practicing…for THREE DAYS, AND training our stances, AND doing push-ups and sit-ups and squats and forms and breathing exercises and reading all these crazy books and scrolls and stuff on ninjutsu!"

When Chuuya's dark brows beetled, his nose pinched and he sucked in a breath like that, Inari KNEW he was in for a fight. Inwardly, the boy cringed. He wasn't used to this. He was an ONLY child, with his OWN room, and without someone THIS intense and attention-hungry in his face every second of every minute of every day.

"Why can't we just go out and SEE the place, Inari? I mean: we're in the Hidden Leaf Village; the Hidden…Leaf…VILLAGE!" moaned Chuuya, arms waving wildly, "but all we've seen so far is this crappy apartment!"

Inari frowned, trying not to let on that he shared the same sentiments, then sprang up and dragged his partner back when Chuuya tried to open the blinds. "Chuuya, dooooon't! We can't let anyone see us."

"Aw come on! I can't even take a look; not even a LOOK?"

"We can't get caught or Naruto'll get in really, really big trouble," Inari lectured then added plaintively, "and us too."

"But I can't STAND it anymore!" the youngest of the Tezuka brood brayed then begged forcefully: "Just-just-just…just let me go for a walk, just around the block. I'll come right back, I swear!"

"Chuuya, no-oooo. Please, Chuuya," Inari countered in a squeaky voice, trying to soothe his partner: "just wait a little longer, ok, please?"

The bigger boy's pink face congealed with pent-up frustration. "But it's like we're TRAPPED here and there's nothing to DO and the food sucks! I mean, instant ramen and skunky milk! Is that ALL that Naruto-guy eats?"

Inari sank. "I know," he rasped quietly, realizing all too keenly that he didn't have much to work with as far as a good selection of counter-arguments. "I feel the same way. I miss mom and granddad a lot. I miss my home and I hate that we can't even leave the apartment but we GOT to do this. Chuuya," the apprentice's apprentice began again urgently, "we're trying to be ninjas…REAL ninjas! And ninjas train their whole lives to protect people and they got to sacrifice a lot. Just think about Haku and Naruto going all the way to Kirigakure to try and save all those people. They're risking their lives, and all we got to do is watch this place and pretend to be Naruto if anyone comes over. Even though we're just kids, that's the LEAST we should be able to do."

"I --," muttered Chuuya who, taken-aback, stared, sighed then hung his round head guiltily.

Inari allowed himself to relax a little, knowing he'd gotten through. Chuuya knew what was at stake just as much as he did…but that didn't mean either of them had to like it.

"I guess you're right," his teammate relented sadly at last, completely deflated, maybe even ashamed.

"Come on," said Inari more brightly as he shook his partner encouragingly by the shoulders, feeling a little guilty himself now. He'd meant to talk Chuuya down but not THIS far down! "Let's work on that Transformation Jutsu," he offered. "You need to be able to do it too and I need the practice."

"…I guess."

Inari gave a weak smile. It had only been three days. Could they last a _week_ like this? What if Naruto and Haku's mission took longer – two weeks, a month…a …a year?

_Sh-t!_ thought Inari who swallowed hard as a great number of uncomfortable thoughts crossed his mind, like: _'I hadn't figured on being away for a year'; 'Grandpa and mom are gonna KILL me if they find out where I am,'_ and _'No one in the Hidden Leaf Village is gonna believe that Naruto could be sick for a whole year. Not even the stupidest ninjas in the whole world would believe that.'_

Lifting his eyes heavenward, Tazuna's grandson offered a quick prayer and hoped beyond hope that this would all work out somehow, and that Naruto and Haku would hurry back soon…like -- really, really, really, REALLY soon.

* * *

**Naruto**

The two had walked for quite some time, passing weathered farmhouses and fishing shanties where most everyone fled at their approach and not even the dogs dared bark.

"What's all THAT about?" asked a puzzled Naruto to which Haku replied:

"Our uniforms. Generally speaking, people realize that of all the things that can happen when you encounter a mist-ninja, most of them are quite bad. They're right to be afraid."

"I guess you're right," Naruto agreed then snickered. "Hey, you know, speaking of which, YOU were pretty scary back when we got stopped by that patrol ship. 'Ooo, I'm gonna kill everyone on the ship!' You even _sounded_ kinda like Zabuza," the blond piped, "only more girly!"

Haku spared an awkward smile. "Since mist-ninja have a reputation, we might as well use it to our advantage. Plus, we really ought to stay in character.

"As for being scary, I don't know. At least, no one's ever called me that. But being Zabuza's apprentice for eight years, I suppose I must have learned to talk like him when appropriate."

* * *

Haku lead Naruto further inland through a patch of dank, low-lying forest to a long-abandoned farmhouse where the two paused for lunch beside a crumbling barn overgrown with tangled vines.

"So what's the plan?" asked Naruto once he'd gulped down the last of his onigiri, fish and rice rolls, in a couple of greedy bites.

The young constable cocked an eyebrow from where he sat primly on the uneven lip of an old, stone well, then teased with fake innocence: "What makes you so sure there _is_ a plan?"

Haku's remark drew a pained, knowing and squinty-eyed look over crossed arms. "Come on, Haku, you got a plan." Naruto sounded sure as he pointed and said: "You're definitely a 'plan' kinda guy."

The taller teenager frowned in thought. "Do you really know me so well already?" he wondered in a philosophical tone then proposed, "Maybe I could stand to be a little more like you, more fluid, more capricious, more, what's the word…" The black-haired ninja leaned back and tumbled backwards down into the well, his last word trailing as he fell, _"un-pre-dict-a-ble!"_

"HEY" barked Naruto who followed Haku in a flash, vaulting over the stone lip after him. Down the dark shaft the genin plunged until a hand shot out from nowhere, caught him at the wrist and hauled the blond sideways to a hidden ledge.

"Naruto," Haku inquired as they met nose-to-nose in the dim light. "Did you really just jump down a _well _without even looking first?"

The genin grimaced then rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah, kinda…I guess," he answered sheepishly, definitely getting a vibe from his teammate that he'd messed up. "Maybe?"

Haku blinked, returned a tight smile then shook his head as he rummaged in his pack for a lantern. Once it was lit, the former Demon's Apprentice lead the way through a short underground passage to a wider chamber. At the opposite end lay another opening flanked by columns, the center sections of which were iron instead of stone and covered with strange sigils.

"So what the hell is THIS place?" Naruto inquired as he looked around uncertainly.

Though the room lacked the gothic layers of dust and hanging cobwebs, it didn't need those kinds of trappings to convey its antiquity.

"An escape route," explained Haku, his tone flat. "Some of the original clans had their houses and compounds inside the Mist Village just as others still do. In an abundance of caution, many of them had secret ways of getting out should the need arise."

Naruto's eyes rose with comprehension. "Oh, I get it! So all WE gotta do is follow the tunnel and we're in!" The blonde beamed then snickered cleverly, "Ve-ry sneaky."

"It's a bit more sophisticated than that. This shaft connects to a passage concealed inside the construction of the Shingen Aqueduct, which runs northwest to northeast," the older teenager illumined then went to the two columns. Haku reached out to them and, to Naruto's surprise, set the metal, middle-sections spinning.

"These are 'prayer wheels' inscribed with Dao magic," said the ninja, answering the question on the genin's whisker-marked face as Naruto watched them go around and around. "The characters embossed on them have real power. All it takes to activate their spells is movement. What I hope that means," he turned to look at Naruto, "is that our passage into Kirigakure will not be detected."

* * *

**The Last Coup de'Etat**

Timbers rattled, polished stone cracked, plaster fell from the ceiling, and much of the heavy furniture piled up in haste against the stout portals to the Mizukage's canal-bounded palazzo shook from the impact and went clattering to the floor.

"Steady!" Isazu shouted to the remaining guards then lowered his eyes to the five fellow mist-shinobi seated on the floor in a semi-circle, facing the doorway.

He could see the sweat wash down the ninjas' tense, straining faces as they continued their guttural chants; fingers entwined in seals. Without them, all was lost for only their wu-shing, five-star seal kept the insurgents at bay. The other twenty in the company were all well-trained, armed and ready for whatever would come but there was no way they would be enough.

"Sh-t!" the captain of Lord Oku's praetorian cursed. "Where the f-ck IS everybody!"

Lieutenant Katori looked at him for a moment, as if wondering if her senior officer really wanted to know. "Some of us are in here," she grumbled coolly then tilted her head toward the trembling doors, "some are out there. The rest…are waiting to see how this all turns out."

Isazu fumed, shaking his head furiously. There was no questioning that reality could be an ugly, ugly thing. "F-ck this sh-t!" he spat then gave a contemptuous wave toward the door. "I can't believe it. HIM of all people, one of the Seven Legendary Swordsmen, a traitor! Who'd ever thought he was anything BUT loyal."

"He was, Sir…to the _Third_ Mizukage, anyway."

The Captain shot her a look, his usually stoic demeanor showing cracks. "Where IS the Fourth?" the shinobi asked in a more receptive tone, letting his subordinate's observation, and all it meant, pass.

"Fled," answered the kunoichi who gave a curt gesture toward the mansion's west wing, "after nearly getting his head chopped off."

Isazu's face fell under the realization that the sum of all his doubts had actually come to pass.

The besieged portal hissed then as water, pregnant with angry chakra energies, seeped through its widening cracks and seams, boiling into globular shapes that rolled across the floor, crawled over the walls and floated upward toward the ceilings of the splendid foyer.

The protective glyphs painted over the doors glowed bright.

Suddenly, the building itself groaned and the ceiling, fashioned to look like an underwater paradise teeming with colorful fish and coral, cracked apart, yielding to a dragon's watery, fang-filled maw. The great, translucent serpent spiraled into the floor with a resounding crash, breaking into a torrent of raging waves but, outracing them, was the man – the striding figure of the Demon of the Hidden Mist himself!

In a flash, the heads of the five ninja manning the barrier flew from their bodies, severed by a single swipe of the ninja's massive, zanbato sword which painted the gilded walls with garish, arterial spray. While a dozen of Isazu's company sprang to engage or surround the traitor, Isazu, Katori and those remaining leaped back, their hands flying through ninja seals none of them would ever complete.

Katori writhed as she hit the ground, a senbon having appeared deep in her eye socket as if transported there by magic while Isazu himself stiffened then went slack with two of the long, steel needles sticking from his neck. None of the others had fared any better. Who could have imagined such a basic weapon being used at THAT level of mastery!

Just as quickly, the shinobi sent to engage Zabuza Momochi now lay at his feet, dead and dismembered. It was all but over now.

Haku, it seemed, had a perversity his sensei lacked for the boy had left some of his victims alive to bear witness to their failure – that the last line of the Mizukage's defenders had fallen.

The palazzo doors fell open, admitting the rest of the Swordsman's faithful – a legion of vile traitors, rogues and killers of every description, all gloating and capering around in expectation of imminent victory.

Their master, Zabuza, his grey battle-fatigues spattered with the blood of his former fellow mist-shinobi, took a moment to savor the sight of the carnage then, as if by sheer predatory instinct, shot a look in the very direction the Mizukage had fled.

"Let's go, Haku," the ringleader growled in a chilling, determined voice, "Oku's not far."

As the Demon's Apprentice, Haku, walked past, picking his way through a landscape of staring corpses, twitching, freshly-severed limbs, abandoned weapons, cracked beams and shards of wreckage strewn amidst pools of water and blood, Isazu gurgled.

Though the question, if it was a question, was unintelligible, Haku actually paused to spare him a look through his expressionless, zodiac mask. "It's nothing personal," he tried to explain in a voice sweet with youth, "but my dream is to serve him." Zabuza's disciple paused in a profundity of thought. "What else can I do?"

* * *

**Chuuya and Inari**

"Dang it!" grumbled Chuuya crossly as he went again through the series of hand seals, again without effect. "How come this is so HARD!"

Inari grinned in sympathy. "The Transformation Jutsu takes a balanced, even flow of energy through your 'Light' chakra. Don't try to force it so much. Like Haku-sensei said, it's the opposite of Cannon Fist 'cause that jutsu channels all your energy into your hand then lets it go all at once when you hit something."

He kind of hated sounding like sensei, especially since he had yet to master Cannon Fist which ought to be simple. "But trust me," Tazuna's grandson added, "once you do it right, you'll never forget how."

A loud, rhythmic knock sounded at the door. Both boys looked up: startled at first then fearful. They'd known this was bound happen at some point. Still, they'd been hoping that, somehow, it'd be a while longer.

"Sh-t!" whispered Chuuya in a panic, dark eyes wide as saucers. "Whatdoowedoo?"

Inari put his hands together for the one jutsu he knew.

"Remember," Chuuya cautioned at the last second, "you're supposed to be sick."

Inari nodded gratefully for the reminder as he executed the seals. In a flash he was a weary-looking Naruto in pajamas and sleeping cap. "Ninja, scatter!" he commanded, but Chuuya had already vanished.

"Wow," he said to himself, impressed and surprised that his heavy-set partner could hide so quickly, "nice job."

Flipping the bolt, 'Naruto' opened the door and peeked out at a face that was truly unforgettable, it having round, black eyes, glossy, black, bowl-cut hair and a gleaming 'cool-guy' smile.

"Oh!" said the disguised Inari as the boy recognized him, "uh, hello Mr. Lee."

The green-clad ninja straitened. "Naruto?" he greeted in return then grinned knowingly, "you really must be feeling bad not to call me 'Bushy Brows'."

"Huh?" said 'Naruto', his blue eyes darting worriedly. "Oh – oh yeah, I - I guess so."

"Well I have brought just the thing to reignite your **power of youth!"**

With a bold gesture, Rock Lee swept from behind his back a big, wicker picnic basket then whisked off the checkered towel that had been covering it. Inside was a thick-walled pot. The smell that issued from it was potent enough to make Inari's eyes water and almost break his jutsu.

"What…what IS that?" Inari dared to ask.

Smiling ear-to-ear, Rock Lee presented it to him as if it were lost scripture. "The Curry of Life!" the tall, emerald leaf-genin cried merrily. "When I told them that you were sick, Karashi and Sansho made this batch up extra-special. It is guaranteed to set you right in no time at all, and will give you the strength you'll need when we spar again – **from sunrise to sunset if that is how long it takes to determine the winner!**"

'Naruto' looked at the now enraptured and wild-eyed ninja as if he were deranged. "Really," he squeaked pitifully, "that long?"

"I know!" Rock Lee assured him, beside himself with anticipation. "I cannot wait either! Eat up, Naruto, and get some good rest. You'll have to be at your very best the next time because I will not go easy on you!" With that, the lithe, black-haired teenager gave 'Naruto' a gleaming smile and thumbs up then bowed his farewell.

"Um, sure, and uh, thanks a lot, Mr. Bushy Brows," 'Naruto' called after him.

No sooner had a much-relieved Inari shut the door and released his jutsu then Chuuya snatched the pot from him and rushed to the little dining room table.

"Holy crap!" cried Chuuya excitedly. "That green guy brought us some food; REAL food! How awesome is that! When he found us on the road to Konoha I thought he was really weird with those tight clothes and crazy eyebrows and everything, but that guy's the BEST!"

Eager and expectant, the boy took off the lid, letting loose a mini-mushroom cloud of acrid steam that made both boys recoil as it wafted up then dispersed across the ceiling.

Gradually, the two approached the pot and peered in cautiously as if something might jump out.

"Whew, that smell!" Inari offered then looked toward Chuuya. "Is curry supposed to be all bright red like that? My mom's is always brown."

A volcanic bubble popped inscrutably from the brew as if to answer.

"Who cares?" determined Chuuya, thrusting a spoon toward his teammate as he drew one of his own. "As long it's NOT instant ramen."

The two boys took up heaped spoonfuls then, on a count of three, had their first taste of the 'Curry of Life'.

* * *

On the streets below Naruto's aerie apartment, puzzled passers-by gazed around at the sound of protracted wailing.

* * *

A leaf-ninja patrolling Konoha's walls looked skyward. All the birds had suddenly taken flight and he wondered what might have startled them.

* * *

**Naruto**

Naruto followed Haku for a long way through a winding, stone-lined tunnel then up a ridiculously high spiral stairway. Only after they'd reached a landing that opened onto a corridor that ran straight at a steady, downward slope could the genin really picture where they were – inside a secret passage built right into one of Kirigakure's aqueducts just like Haku had said.

"Remember, Naruto," Haku's cautious voice intoned out of the blue, "it's important that we go unnoticed, so once we're inside don't do or say anything that might draw attention."

"'Kay," Naruto agreed, though his partner's instruction seemed kind of obvious.

A few minutes passed.

"Don't stare or look around too much. If anyone approaches us, let me do the talking."

The blond raised an eyebrow then squinted. "Got it," he answered bluntly.

"Naruto," said Haku again a little later on, "regardless of how this mission goes you must make your own escape a primary consideration."

Feeling a little insulted now, the genin snorted and rolled his eyes. "Hey, I'm a ninja too, y'know. I know the risks."

"Do you?" replied Haku, uncharacteristically curt. "If we are discovered, the worst the Mizukage and his shinobi will do is _kill_ me. But you…I can only imagine what drastic measures they would undertake to get at the power inside you."

Naruto gave out an exasperated gasp. "Haku --."

"Listen to me, Naruto," the teenager interrupted. "The Mist's ANBU and their interrogators are not to be underestimated. I've heard stories of genjutsu used to create worlds of torture, victims being medically altered or used for experiments --."

"Will you just SHUT UP?" the younger ninja barked impassionedly. "Listening to you you'd think we failed already! We BOTH know what we have to do; that's why were here! You can plan all you want to for some stuff but for a mission like this, like for what we're about to do, where we're about to go, it's about MAKING IT HAPPEN!" Naruto raised his fist then swept it back the way they'd came. "If you don't think you can do that then YOU'RE the one who should head back."

Haku stiffened but walked on in silence as the echoes of Naruto's gravelly tenor and racing, angry breaths died away.

"Maybe I am…pessimistic by nature," the constable admitted at last. "And though you have a point, what I really wanted to get across to you, Naruto, is that there are fates worse than death and outcomes worse than failure." Looking over his shoulder at the genin, The Demon's Apprentice insisted: "letting the Mist get a hold of the Kyuubi no Yoko is one of them."

* * *

The sloping passage ended in a small, low chamber from which another spiral stairway descended. Following it, Haku lead Naruto down into the ruins of an old mansion and from there out into the grim streets.

Turning to Naruto, Haku opened his arms and said simply: "Welcome to Kirigakure."


	19. The Jinchuuriki's Mandate Part 2

_Hi, reader. Hope you're having a great summer and that you like Chapter 19._

_-Jono'_

* * *

**The Sacrifice**

In the catacombs under the Mizukage's palazzo a lone, hooded figure dressed in a cascade of indigo robes sat in a small boat, floating along in a cavernous expanse of arch-topped columns on a mirror of black, unaided by candle or lamp. The only illumination present at all came from pale, grate-covered portals open to the bleak and baleful Water Country sky high above.

Like Charon in this underworld, the man arrived at a subterranean pier then made his way to a shrine of rough-cut stone rising from the darkness, beckoned by a flickering glow in its one corbelled opening and the sounds of someone knocking around, whistling to keep themselves company.

The man went to the portal and stopped; his tormented eyes, sleep-starved, dull and haunted, squinted hard as they adjusted to the lamplight.

Within, a series of statues, each a hellish chimaera of man and monster more horrifying than the last, twisted up the walls of the hemispherical chamber while a solitary custodian swept the floor.

As the shrouded stranger paced inside, the shrine's occupant, a gaunt and pock-mocked scarecrow of skin, bone and stained coveralls, startled with a fearful, convulsive gasp.

"Mister!" he shrieked in alarm, stammering in thick, provincial patios: "You should not be here. It is forbidden. You must leave now, Sir. You must!"

Stick skinny though he was, the lone guardian moved to enforce his words with only a push-broom for a weapon but then stopped cold with a constricted look overcoming his weathered face. The janitor threw himself down on his knees where he bowed his head thrice to the floor.

"Lord Oku!" he groveled reverently. "Please forgive me. I did not realize it was you."

With his impassive face betraying nothing, the visitor, none other than the Fourth Water Shadow of the Village Hidden in the Mist, paced past the man toward the center of the shrine where he regarded each of the ghastly statues in turn.

Raising a hand to his heavily-bandaged throat he asked in a dry croak, "your name?"

The attendant's eyes flickered around the room, as if surely someone of _this_ lofty stature couldn't possibly be asking HIM. "Me, Sir?" he peeped in a cowed, humble whisper, but in this gloomy chamber even that echoed. "It's – it's Krishenay…Krishenay Rahaman.

"My lord," the janitor added, "may I say how very happy I am to see you alive and safe; how blessed we all are that you and your loyal shinobi were able at last to fight off that despicable Zabuza Momochi person and his gang of traitors and cutthroats. All Heaven and Earth be praised!"

The ninja lord gave a noncommittal grunt then knelt in the center of the chamber. From his robes he drew out, not a scroll but a document infinitely older - a codex dating from a time long before even the First Mizukage - then lay it open on the stone floor.

"M-m-m…my lord?" Krishenay whispered fearfully, canting his head to peer around the Mizukage's back as the shinobi pressed his hands together in a seal and began to mutter, gesturing toward the eight directions.

After a time the darkness answered him, welling at first, then rising and falling in eerie, disjointed harmony with Lord Oku's invocation. In a breath it waxed to fill the room, closing around the workman's lanterns and smothering them down to nothing but pitiful, pinprick spots floating in an enveloping sea of supernatural black that reared up to swallow both master and servant alike.

Succumbing to terror, the gangly janitor huddled on the floor with arms clutched around his head, stammering prayers while the shinobi's cryptic tones turned to conversation as he negotiated with parties unseen.

"Lord Oku, please," begged Krishenay, "you-you cannot really be speaking with the demons of this shrine, can you?"

The entire world, heaven and earth, sea and sky dissolved into a black oblivion until, much to man's relief, the shadows suddenly retreated – as if the ink, once spilled, had decided to flow back into its bottle, leaving only himself and the Mizukage who harkened then canted his head toward the monstrous gargoyles; their leering, half-hidden faces and crouching bodies brushed by dancing, orange firelight.

"You must have…" uttered the ninja lord in a sepulchral voice, "a sacrifice to seal the bargain?" Oku turned toward Krishenay, his blue robes flowing after him, and, without a second thought, raised a pointing finger at _him._

Before the startled janitor's eyes could even widen, a flapping shape blurred from one of the statues, tore through both coveralls and skin then shoved itself into his body. As the Mizukage looked on, countless more shapes flew from the statues, one after another, some flapping, others crawling, slithering, skittering, galloping or hopping like frogs or fleas. From hapless Krishenay's body, a torrent of steaming, blood-drenched organs and clattering, ivory bones flew to make room for a host of occupants until all were housed within like an overstuffed sack.

At length 'Krishenay' rose…_greatly_ transformed.

Like a rogue marionette, the giant of a figure wobbled with wooden unsteadiness, its bulging eyes swiveling in different directions, swollen arms groping at nothing, thick fingers flexing in spasms until it finally mastered the coordination necessary to come before the Mizukage and stand.

Even in its stillness, disconcerting shapes wriggled and writhed beneath the surface of the former janitor's stretched skin.

"And so, Lord Kouji Oku," it began in a voice not even close to human, "in trade for returning us to this land after so long a-time, what would you have of us?"

The ninja lord's slack cheek twitched. "Follow me," he said simply as he turned to go.

* * *

**Haku**

**They died by the hundreds, both day and night, and all were thrown in ... ditches and covered with earth. And as soon as those ditches were filled, more were dug. And I, Agnolo di Tura ... buried my five children with my own hands ... And so many died that all believed it was the end of the world.**

—_**The Plague in Siena: An Italian Chronicle**_

**The condition of the people was pitiable to behold. They sickened by the thousands daily, and died unattended and without help. Many died in the open street, others dying in their houses, made it known by the stench of their rotting bodies. Consecrated churchyards did not suffice for the burial of the vast multitude of bodies, which were heaped by the hundreds in vast trenc****hes, like goods in a ships hold...**

—**Giovanni Boccacci (1313-1375)**

* * *

Behind the almost-comforting anonymity of a mist-ANBU mask and with a disguised and masked Naruto Uzumaki in tow, Zabuza's apprentice paced along the old stone and brick-paved streets of the city he'd once found so familiar. Though little had changed in the two years he'd been away, those two years since the streets, canals and even the halls of the Mizukage's palazzo had rung with the sounds of shouts, clashing steel and crackling flames of his master's rebellion, Haku couldn't help but feel like the fugitive criminal he had become.

Cutting through an alleyway that zigzagged around the Mitsumori Precincts, the two shinobi made their way along, then over a arched bridge across, the murky waters of the Juzo Canal to where a broad boulevard flared dramatically into the Piazza del Sangre'. There the Third Mizukage, remembered for all posterity in the form of a bronze titan, towered majestically against the perpetually leaden sky, compassed by an array of mythical monsters and flowing fountains.

Along the way, the Mist Village's poor citizens veered around Haku and his shorter, yellow-haired companion, crossing cautiously to the other side of the street or turning away to take a different route entirely. Most of them were so accustomed to avoiding their own village's shinobi that they weren't even necessarily aware they were doing it; the act itself had become as reflexive and natural as breathing.

How different a place this was from Wave Country, his adopted home, Haku thought, or the happier streets of the Hidden Leaf Village whose shinobi were its protectors.

Everyone here seemed to _hunker_ - moving slowly so as not to draw attention with their energy, frowning to avoid the appearance of any emotion more suspicious, wearing drab colors in case a brighter one might warrant retaliation. And who could blame them, living year after year in such a place as this, mired in fear and poverty?

_Maybe death would come as a relief,_ considered Haku as the grim notion, no less terrible for its subtlety, passed unhelpfully through the teenager's mind but was quickly dismissed; it was just that kind of fatalistic notion his master might have expressed. In any case, he hadn't come all this way just to change his mind now.

"Hey, uh, Haku," said Naruto in a strained whisper through the ANBU mask the young shinobi still, clearly, wasn't quite used to, "it's really weird here; a lot worse than I thought."

Without breaking stride, Haku only nodded and grunted in agreement though just hearing his teammate's friendly, reassuring voice buoyed him.

But he wondered if bringing Naruto along might have been a colossal mistake. Granted, the hyperactive blond had some skill, great reserves of power and, at times, surprising cleverness. For all of that though, the genin was still very much an unknown factor, inexperienced and not exactly suited for a mission like this one which required quiet steps, a closed mouth…and a cold heart.

_So why did I do it?_ the young constable found himself asking. _Because I didn't want to tell him 'no'? Because I didn't want to go it alone?_

_How weak; how stupid, _a wincing Haku concluded.

_If anything happens to Naruto, it will be my fault much more than his. I'm older, a veteran. I'm supposed to know better._

Another thing that weighed on the constable, other than the truly horrifying consequences should this mission fail…was that Naruto _cared_ about him.

Why that insight should linger in his mind and suddenly seem so troubling, Haku really didn't know. He'd been Zabuza's partner on scores of missions and other equally-dangerous adventures with great success for the better part, and he'd _loved _Zabuza.

_Maybe it's just a matter of confidence,_ Haku supposed. _Master Zabuza would never have endangered himself or done anything foolish on my behalf were I in peril. Then too, Zabuza so rarely ever found himself in any situation from which a slice or two from his zanbato would not free him._

Behind his mask the young ninja could only smile bleakly, remembering the warm sense of security he'd felt in those days as the Demon of the Hidden Mist's apprentice. He really HAD been pretty naïve.

_But if anything happens to Naruto…_

"So," asked the subject of his thoughts, interrupting the fugitive's ruminations just then with a surprisingly practical question: "how're we gonna find these guys we're looking for? I mean, look at all the people! And this place is a _rat-maze." _The blond glanced around then growled in a whisper, _"_not to mention _crawling_ with mist-ninjas. How come there's so many?"

After a few steps, Haku answered, "The Ascension Ceremonies are this week. Unlike many of the hidden villages that have formal tests and examinations for promotion to chunin and jonin, the Mist Village requires the completion of particularly difficult or dangerous missions. The new ranks are then awarded in a formal graduation. Shinobi are expected to attend, especially if they're from one of the old clans." The teenager cocked his head. "As for your first question...I was kind of hoping you wouldn't ask."

"What!" Naruto's voice cracked from beneath his mask, drawing sharp, worried looks from already-skittish passers-by. "Are you kidding me?"

"Shhh," Haku snapped.

"Are you kidding me?" the blond echoed in a tone that was softer but no less insistent. "You don't have _that_ part figured out?"

The slender teenager let out a breath. "Well…I kind of have an idea, but it's risky." Haku stopped and looked into Naruto's masked face, catching a glimpse of his friend's blue eyes beneath. "I have to consult an old enemy – Miss Aya Sakamoto."

Naruto paused then straightened in thought. "Y'mean that medical-nin who was with Yamashite's team?"

"Yes, that's her," Haku confirmed soberly. "She ended up _saving_ my life rather than taking it. I don't know why she did that but I'm hoping she doesn't have any regrets."

"Hmm." Sapphire eyes flickered. "And what if she does? Or what if she's not around?"

Haku was glad for his mask, doubting his yellow-haired partner would much like the troubled expression that crossed his face just then. "Let's," he demurred delicately, "cross that bridge when we come to it."

* * *

**Inari**

Inari awoke with the floor under his back feeling especially hard this morning. That, despite all the efforts he'd gone through to pile up Naruto's clothes into an improvised mattress. Still groggy, the black-haired Wave Country boy yawned, blinked bleary, dark eyes then pushed himself up, moaning as he did with the aches and pains of a man many decades his senior.

Swiveling his head toward Naruto's unmade bed, the ten-year old noticed that Chuuya was already up – a surprising thing because his partner was the one who usually slept in.

The two had tried to share the bed at first but Chuuya tossed and turned in his sleep, murmured and made funny sounds, all of which would have made things untenable enough for Inari even if Naruto's bed had been big enough for more than one to begin with.

Switching back and forth seemed like the only reasonable solution.

_Heaven and Earth, I wish I was home,_ he moaned to himself.

Staggering to the bathroom, Inari caught the sounds and smells of instant ramen cooking in the kitchen and couldn't help but shudder and shake his head. Instant ramen for every meal was really getting old, but at least Chuuya was making it this time. Inari frowned then tried to count himself lucky that his 'roommate' had about as many virtues as vices.

After showering, brushing his teeth and putting on the same sink-washed clothes he'd worn every day for the last few, Inari paced to what served as the apartment's main living area – a combined living room, dining room and kitchen - then startled. He himself was already there, sitting at the table with a noodle hanging out of his mouth!

Inari stared dumbly for a moment at his identical twin who sucked up the noodle, struck a pose, opened his arms then cried: "TA-DA!"

Tazuna's grandson burst out laughing then gave his partner a short but sincere round of applause. "Nice job, Chuuya!" cheered Inari rewardingly. "You got the Transformation Jutsu."

The other Inari nodded. "I just woke up, came out here and tried it and it worked!" he said with a grin as he adjusted his teal overalls and floppy, white hat. "I guess I was still kinda tired so I couldn't force it too much like I _was_ doing. But yeah!"

Inari leveled a look and raised his hands. "Ok, you're really creeping me out being me. Can you change back."

Inari-number-two put his hands together in a seal. "Release," he declared boldly and, in a burst of dispersing chakra, was Chuuya Tezuka once again.

The original nodded in appreciation. "That's great," he gushed hesitantly, "just…great; it's really gonna help us out."

Chuuya smiled at first then gave the smaller boy a supportive grin, reading the nuances in the other apprentice ninja's voice with shocking perspicacity. "Don't worry," he said, "I won't rest…and I won't let YOU rest either until you got Cannon Fist too."

Inari nodded in embarrassment, knowing how stupid it was to feel setback somehow at his friend's progress.

"We succeed as a team, right?" offered Chuuya with a broad, bright smile.

Inari straightened and grinned back at his partner wholeheartedly. "Right!"

* * *

**Haku**

The Mist Village's hospital was right where Haku remembered; a drab and imposing five-story, painfully institutional-looking building clad in grey stone with the same pediment-lintel windows repeating every few feet.

Proceeding inside, with worried looks following them everywhere they went, the two ANBU-uniformed ninjas paced through the wards and dormitories, around corridors with endless patient rooms on one side and a grid of wired-glass, factory-sash windows on the other overlooking a chain of dreary courtyards, until at last Haku found the kunoichi he was looking for.

"Miss Sakamoto," greeted Haku from behind his zodiac mask.

The medical-nin glanced up from her patient and an unsettled look passed at once over her young face. "Yes?" she began uneasily. "Is something…is something wrong?"

The petite and pretty, black-haired girl seemed so different dressed in a white lab coat rather than the militant mist-ninja garb and hitai-ate she'd worn before as part of Pack-Leader Toru Yamashite's ANBU team. Having only caught a few glimpses of her in Wave Country, Haku though it fortunate that he recognized her at all.

"May we speak in private?"

The young woman nodded then lead the two to her tiny office, making sure to close the door behind them. Even here lingered the faint stink of cleansers and antiseptics.

"Who," inquired Aya with barely-suppressed anxiety, "who are you? What's this all about?"

After a hesitant pause, Haku removed his mask at which the kunoichi startled with a quick breath.

"It's _you!_" she squeaked. "What are you _doing_ here? You shouldn't -."

"I need to find someone," Haku interrupted gravely, "someone who intends to destroy this village; someone who, I've learned, is very capable of doing so."

The mist-ninja's lips quivered, fingers pressed against her chin in shocked disbelief. In a room this small, there hardly seemed room for the history they shared or what Zabuza Momochi's former student had just revealed.

"I realize this is sudden and unwelcome," Haku explained uncomfortably, "that just my being here puts you in danger and that you have no reason at all to trust me. Despite that, I've come anyway because I need your help."

Aya, finally, slumped in her chair behind a little desk cluttered with files, medical texts and charts, and slowly composed herself. "You…," she began in flustered tones as her guests sat down also, "Am I to understand - you want to _save_ the Mist Village?"

As his grey eyes rose towards her dark ones, Haku gave an awkward smile. "I know what that must sound like. But I am not who my master was."

"I don't understand," said the kunoichi, shaking her head in confusion. "Why me? Why not -?"

"Because you're the only one I know who can help," the young constable finished. "Please, Aya. You saved my life before. You must have thought I was worth the effort; or maybe it was only because your sensei did. Is it really _so_ strange that I would feel that way about others too?"

**"Come ON already, sister!"** blurted the still-masked Naruto suddenly, lurching forward with an emphatic wave of his arm. **"Haku's trying to SAVE this stupid place and you're holdin' up the whole freakin' show!"**

Haku shot the genin a mortified look. _"Enough,"_ he warned crossly.

The blond crossed his arms, straightened his mask then hung his head, pouting as he grumbled: "Fine."

A long, really awkward silence followed.

"Who," asked the very puzzled medical-nin in a tentative voice, "is that?"

Haku made a face then sighed. "It's really better for everyone if you didn't know."

Slumping back in her seat, the only genuine mist-ninja in the room dropped her hands into her lap. "What do you want me to do?"

The slender shinobi went to his pack and withdrew a case. Inside was an airtight evidence bag containing a handkerchief mottled with reddish brown and milky yellow crusts.

"I have some of the man's blood," explained the constable, "so I had in mind that you lend me the use of your Stalking Eels Jutsu to find him. I should warn you that this sample undoubtedly contains powerful pathogens. If I," Haku began, looked at Naruto, then amended: "if _we_ fail…then the consequences will fall on you and your medical staff. I trust you understand now."

Aya's eyes widened in comprehension. "I…If everything you said is true then I can't just keep this a secret," the ANBU muttered gravely as she fixed her visitors with a bleak look, "even if it means letting the Mizukage know that you're still alive and that I tended your injuries back in Wave Country. This is just -. It's bigger than me."

Haku nodded in soft, hesitant acceptance. "As much as I wish you to preserve my secrets, for your sake as well as my own, I would not expect you to. All I need," explained the teenager, his thin, dark brows narrowing seriously, "is your jutsu and one day to complete this mission – my way, with as little loss of life as possible."

* * *

**Inari**

Sitting across from one another at Naruto's little dining room table, Chuuya and Inari stared down at 'gama-chan'. Gama-chan was a money pouch that looked just like a little green, puppet frog, the mouth of which was the opening, and was where Naruto kept what cash and coin he had.

"Ok," began Inari, stating the obvious, "we need to get some food." The Wave Country boy looked up meaningfully. "Go ahead, Chuuya, but don't take too much. We might have to live off what Naruto left us for awhile."

Chuuya returned a painful frown. "Naw," he began, reluctantly magnanimous, and shook his round, bowling-ball head. "You can go. Now that I can do the Transformation Jutsu, I can handle being Naruto if someone comes around. We should at least do rock/paper/scissors or flip a coin or something to see who gets to go." The larger ten-year old straightened adamantly before remarking: "It's only fair."

Inari smiled in appreciation of his teammate's gesture. "No, it makes more sense for you to go. I've known Naruto longer, so I can probably do him better. Plus, you've been _dying_ to get out and see more of the Leaf Village."

Chuuya grimaced a little but nodded. He could hardly deny it.

"Go on and look around a little bit," Inari allowed with a degree of caution, "just don't get carried away, ok? And be careful?"

The other black-haired boy grinned. "No problem," he declared keenly. "I'll be back before you know it."

Taking a bit of money from gama-chan, leaving the poor frog a little skinnier, Chuuya went to the door and undid the latch followed by Inari who, turning himself into Naruto, opened it a little and checked that the coast was clear.

_It's all up to Chuuya now, _thought Inari with a funny look on his face. _Who'd have ever thought that his first dangerous, super-top-secret solo ninja mission would be to get some groceries?_

* * *

**Haku**

With Naruto hurrying beside him, Haku followed Aya's jutsu-conjured eel as it slithered effortlessly through the air unhindered and unnoticed by the Mist Village crowds. With the possible exception of Naruto having invited himself along, everything else was going much, much better than he'd ever expected. Still, behind his white, ANBU mask, the ninja's eyes steeled in concentration.

"Do you think Aya'll wait for us like she said?" asked his yellow-haired partner.

"I don't know, Naruto. I can only hope so, and that she won't go straight to the ANBU or the Mizukage himself. Not that I could blame her if she did.

"If I was a much cleverer shinobi," sighed Haku self-consciously, "I would have thought of a better way, but as things are we'll just have to trust her."

Something bumped against Haku's leg just then and the startled teenager whirled to look down at the small figure who'd run into him – a skinny, brown-haired boy wearing a threadbare, black coat who looked to be about Inari's age, more or less. The cuffs of his baggy, grey pants spilled out over too-big boots.

That Haku hadn't even noticed his approach said a lot about the ninja's preoccupation.

The equally-surprised boy gaped in horror as his eyes fixed wide on the fugitive and his partner's mist-ninja uniforms and zodiac-masked faces - maybe, from his experience, the faces of death itself. Backpedaling away as if from a nest of venomous snakes, the boy staggered, wheeled, then ran for his life.

Haku turned his attention back to the clots of people moving to and fro through Kirigakure's narrow streets and, of course, Aya's elusive eel.

Despite the many things lacking, possibly, in that boy's life, thought the former Demon's Apprentice, the terrified look on his face had said one thing clearly enough – that he wanted to live.

_And he should have that choice,_ Haku concluded at once, bolstered by the encounter, then set forth with renewed determination.

As the watery eel flew on, leading the two ninjas back toward the grandest of Kirigakure's plazas, Haku felt certain he was on the right track. The man he was looking for was sure to be there - where the people were, the most fertile field in which to sew his hideous infections. And no place in the Hidden Mist Village was as crowded as the Piazza del Sangre'.

* * *

**Chuuya**

A thrilling sense of freedom and exhilaration filled him the instant he stepped out the door to Naruto's apartment onto the railed walkway. Never in his young life had he been cooped up like that. Having been deprived of sunshine and fresh air for so long, the joy he felt at this reunion was almost overwhelming.

The Wave Country boy gripped the railing and sucked in a deep, cleansing breath, letting the exotic and foreign Fire Country wind course over him. Sprawling out below and all around him – the sights, sounds, colors and scents of The Village Hidden in the Leaves! A toothy smile bloomed over Chuuya's round face. He couldn't wait to see it – ALL of it!

Over the next few _hours_, the boy wandered the lively streets, gawking at all the strange sights, the buildings, some ramshackle and others majestic, and, most of all, all the weird people. He stopped to gaze at the monument to the four Hokage's, whose giant, stone likenesses stared down on Konoha from the cliffs high above. Chuuya stopped for ice cream then went for a walk through Senju Park before being shooed away from the Hyuuga precincts after which he hung out by the fence around Konoha's Ninja Academy where he sized himself up against the Leaf's new crop of prospective genin.

And ninjas were _everywhere_ - all shapes and sizes, leaping from building to building or just going about their business like they were anyone else! These weren't like the mist-ninjas back in the Land of Waves either, most of who were mean and screw-faced. These guys seemed pretty normal for the most part…other than the scars, the weapons, the funny clothes and that they were ninjas.

Having already lost track of time, Chuuya ambled carelessly along, almost colliding into a couple of men from behind. Stopping himself in the nick of time, the boy looked up at the pair and got ready to call them out for not looking where he was going, until he recognized, first by their Leaf Village uniforms then by one's brush of black hair and the other's bandana, that these were the same chunin who'd been standing guard at the east gate when he and Inari arrived a few days ago.

The Wave Country boy froze; his face a horrified grimace. He backed away then darted down a side-street, hoping and praying that the two hadn't noticed. Only after he'd taken a few turns and gotten a good distance away did Chuuya stop to rest, panting with relief.

_I coulda been caught just now, _the realization flooded him. _They know I'm not supposed to be here; I coulda messed up the whole mission!_

With the new-found righteousness that can only come from a sinner absolved, Chuuya walked straight back towards Naruto's apartment and the stalls two blocks away where vendors sold fresh produce. After buying a bagful, he went then to a convenience store, a mom-and-pop _konbini,_ to pick up the REAL essentials.

* * *

"Looks like you're on a mission," a sanguine voice issued from above while the stocky ten-year old waited in line to pay.

Chuuya turned, came face to face with a belt-buckle then craned his round head up sharply at a very tall leaf-ninja with white hair who wore his hitai-ate slanted over his left eye. Blue fabric masked most of the rest of his face.

"What do you mean?" the Wave Country boy asked, deeply suspicious. In the back of his mind, Chuuya could swear he'd seen this guy before but couldn't remember where.

"Just that you have a lot of groceries there. Although," said the ninja, whose free eye gave the boy's purchases a once-over before it drifted back to his manga – one of 'those' books kids weren't allowed to look at, "I doubt mom and dad will like that you bought so much junk food."

"Huh!" growled Chuuya in indignation, thinking it was hardly any of this guy's business anyway, "a lot YOU know."

"Say," the leaf-ninja went on, "I know, or thought I knew, just about everyone in the Leaf Village but I've never seen you before. What's your name?"

Chuuya paused warily. "Um, I'm not supposed to say." His pudgy face lit with inspiration. "Mom told me not to talk to strangers."

The man nodded sagely. "Good advice. She couldn't _possibly_ have meant ME though."

Chuuya shuddered, eye twitching as he simply turned around, paid for his items and did NOT slam a softball remark like that clean out of the park like he wanted to.

The tall ninja chuckled softly as the kid left. "It's nice to know that some of today's youth can show a little restraint," he remarked to himself then went back to his reading.

* * *

**Naruto**

Naruto's eyes flashed from face to face as he followed Aya's watery eel through a twisting maze of Mist Village alleyways.

_I guess that's one advantage to wearing a mask,_ he thought,_ no one can see you looking!_

Looking was probably pointless anyway, trying to find a ninja he'd never seen before in strange, crowded city like this.

_And if he's using a Transformation Jutsu, the guy could look like anybody!_ the blond grumbled to himself then tried to remain focused instead on tracking that kiri-kunoichi's Stalking Eel.

The crowd parted a bit as the way opened into an expansive plaza, at which the little creature of water and chakra took off in a straight line toward the guard-wall of a bridge that overlooked one of the many of Kirigakure's dark-watered canals.

With a look of determination set on his face, Naruto took half a dozen more steps after it before he realized he'd left Haku behind. The young leaf-ninja skidded to a stop then turned to race back to his partner who'd suddenly froze.

"Hey!" he huffed, keeping the volume down to a stage-whisper minimum, "why'd you stop? We're gonna _lose_ it."

"That's him," Haku reported then discreetly turned away, drawing Naruto with him into the shadows. "The older man in the baggy clothes and brown, traveler's cloak looking out over the Sumai Canal is Noriyasu Tsujita. He hasn't bothered to disguise himself." While Naruto resisted the temptation to turn and look, the Demon's Apprentice's voice dropped to an intense hiss. "I don't know who the young man with the heavy build standing next to him is. It's possible that it's Tohma, the Nikai Clan patriarch, using the Transformation Jutsu."

Naruto swallowed hard, feeling the uneasiness radiate from his normally placid friend.

_It's 'cause,_ the blond realized, _we're going to have to __**assassinate**__ them._

Up until now, they'd been so caught up in the search that Naruto hardly had the time to really think about it. But that is what this whole mission was all about – killing a couple of people so that a lot more might live.

Of course Naruto had read about, heard about, and seen in movies and manga all kinds of other missions and stories that were like this but now that it was real, now that he was a part of it, it didn't seem nearly so simple.

_Killing someone just to get your way, just because you think it's right_, the genin considered;_ there's GOTTA be something wrong with that._

_Assassination, _he found himself asking as a grimace came to his whisker-marked face, _it's just another word for __**murder**__, isn't it?_

And it didn't seem like the ugly necessity it was sometimes made out to be, but just a complete and total failure. It meant that someone hadn't been smart enough or had the courage enough to find another way, a BETTER way. It meant that all that was left was something stupid and simple – to kill.

_Didn't it?_

Knowing that the lives of everyone in Kirigakure hung in the balance, it was hard not to doubt his reservations, heartfelt though they were.

Naruto glanced at his partner. Haku had spent eight years as a killer's disciple. Having gone through everything he'd gone through since Zabuza's death, the young leaf-shinobi knew that a killer was the last thing he wanted to be now. It had been the last thing Haku ever wanted to be in the first place!

Beneath his ANBU mask, Naruto's burning, blue eyes softened with concern.

_No wonder this is so hard for him._

"Ok, Naruto," the former Demon's Apprentice explained severely. "I will take out the targets. You keep watch, provide backup and cover for our escape if it becomes necessary. If I succeed, then you will follow me at a distance while my water clones take the frozen bodies to a foundry about a mile northeast of here for safe disposal. Should I fail then I will attempt to keep them occupied while you get into position to kill Tsujita yourself. If we both fail then (provided either of us are still alive) we will have to inform Aya and it will fall to her to pass the situation up the appropriate channels. At that point it will be out of our hands.

"Keep in mind, Naruto, we can not afford any kind of protracted engagement or we risk discovery after which we will surely be overwhelmed. Never forget," said Haku who nodded toward the canals, "we're surrounded by both kiri-ninjas and an unlimited source of _water_ which puts us at a great disadvantage.

"If things go bad," Haku went on, "drop smoke bombs, create as many shadow clones as you can and send them running off in every direction as a diversion. If we get separated, don't wait for me. If I fall, don't put yourself at risk to rescue me; no heroics. Do whatever you have to do to get back to the Shingen Aqueduct and from there back to Konoha. Do you understand?"

"Got it," Naruto barked convincingly, knowing it wasn't true even as he said it.

After having failed so many times in his life when it really counted, with Sasuke, with the Third Hokage, and even with Haku the first time, one thing was sure - there was no way he'd EVER leave Haku behind, not for any reason, not under any circumstances; even if it meant having to take down every mist-ninja in the place!

Though it was impossible to tell Haku's thoughts or even read his face through his ANBU mask, the older ninja's conflict over what he now had to do was pretty evident.

"Hey," Naruto whispered then dropped a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. However the genin felt about the idea of killing someone in cold blood, even if the reasons were good, Naruto knew that this was not the time or place to have that argument. "It's ok," he offered confidently in his high, raspy voice. "I know you'll do the right thing, whatever it is."

Haku remained still for a moment, nodded then wove his fingers together for a jutsu.

* * *

**Inari**

After an unapologetically-loud series of knocks lasting several minutes, Inari, using his Transformation Jutsu to look like a very ill and tired-looking Naruto Uzumaki, opened the door a crack and peered out.

"Hiya, Boss!" a kind of a stupid-looking, brown-eyed kid with a thicket of spiky, brown hair greeted with a wave then abruptly pushed his way in.

Inari startled at the strange, obnoxious boy's presumptive entry…and then at his outfit! Blue-banded goggles circled this kid's forehead like a hitai-ate, and a long, LONG, blue scarf wrapped around his neck a few times, dropped down over a mustard-yellow t-shirt with the Leaf Village's sigil on it, way past open-toe booted feet to where it trailed along the ground like a tail.

Right behind him, almost on his heels, followed a buoyant red-haired girl and another, kind of lethargic-looking, boy wearing big, round glasses. And both of them wore goggles too!

"Uh, hi, hey," muttered 'Naruto' who staggered back, a little surprised, then stared in bewilderment at his trio of unwelcome visitors.

The red-head drew up to Inari, bowed and smiled. She had large, doe eyes, rosy cheeks, and wore a red vest over a pink shirt, but what was most striking was her vivid, orange hair which was pulled up into two, tall, thick, tapering columns gathered at the top to form a 'V'.

"Hi, Naruto!" she piped energetically. "We heard you've been sick and came right over to cheer you up!"

"Oh, yeah, that's, uh, that's great," the faux-Naruto rasped awkwardly while the girl's two friends wandered around the room like they owned the place.

"We just HAD to come over and see how you're doing!" the kid with the spiky hair laughed, stopped and looked down quizzically at the dining room table and all the stuff that had piled up on it since Chuuya's shopping trip. "Hey, what's all this?" he asked.

"Looks like dominoes, Konohamaru," said 'glasses'.

The girl turned toward Naruto. "Oh! I didn't know you played."

Naruto, caught a little off-balance, rubbed the back of his head and answered: "yeah, well…I-I haven't been feeling good so I got a lot of time to kill, y'know."

"You got two chairs set up…and two drinks too," Konohamaru noticed.

Inari didn't hear him because he was staring at the kid with the glasses: a sad-eyed boy with chestnut hair who wore a stiff, blue jacket worn over long, khaki shorts. From under his young nose, a thin trail of mucus glistened.

"Um," the jutsu-disguised Wave Country boy ventured, a little grossed-out, "can I get you a tissue or something?"

"Huh?" said the boy who whipped out a handkerchief, "oh, no thanks, I got my own."

"MAN!" brayed Konohamaru. "Are you drinking fruit punch AND black tea? Peanut butter, caramel corn, cherry almonds, candy bars, salty pretzels, bananas, garlic pickles – are you really eating ALL of this? No wonder you've been sick. And," he observed, noticing the gama-chan money purse and the two separate kitties, "you're playing yourself…_for money?"_

"Come ON, Konohamaru, don't be so stupid," the girl explained as she let her hands fall to her sides. "He's _obviously_ been playing with one of his shadow-clones."

"Um, yeah, that's right," Naruto affirmed with a vigorous nod.

"…And your clone had his own drink and snacks?" ventured Konohamaru, his head cocked like a confused puppy.

Naruto shrugged and nodded.

"And you were playing for money."

The genin's blue eyes lifted in thought. "It's – it's more exciting like that!"

"I like to read a lot when I'm sick," the boy with the basset-hound eyes volunteered. "Actually I've never really been SICK sick, I'm kind of sick all the time. Maybe it's allergies, I don't know, but I meant whenever I get hurt training or something."

The red-head girl gave a merry giggle. "You read all the time anyway, Udon!"

"Hmm, I guess you're right."

"Look, guys," announced Naruto in a tired voice through an affected, rasping cough, "I'm still not really feeling very good. Maybe you could come back later, like, next week or something?"

Of the three, the girl was the only one who took the not-so-subtle hint. "Come on, you two," she urged in a more authoritative tone, "let's let Naruto get some rest. I hope you feel better, Naruto, 'cause we really, really miss you even if it's only been a few days."

The genin smiled weakly and gave her a grateful nod.

"Um, yeah," agreed Konohamaru after some hesitation as he joined his red-headed partner, "sure, Moegi."

Udon, realizing he was about to be left behind, hurried to get in line with his friends. "Get well soon!" he offered good-naturedly.

Konohamaru, the last to go, gave the blond a curious, upward look. "Yeah, Boss, get well soon."

As soon as the three were gone, Chuuya spilled out from the cabinet under the sink where he'd been hiding. "Man!" he crowed in exasperation, lifting his arms dramatically to the high heavens. "Those have GOT to be THE most nosey and annoying little brats on EARTH! What part of 'get the hell OUT' didn't they get?"

Inari, leaning against the door, slumped with relief. "Tell me about it," he slurred.

"Coming in here like that…when they KNOW you're sick! Are they stupid, or what?"

Inari nodded and made his way back to the table. "It was good, in a way," he said in an introspective tone as he sat and rested his cheek in his hand. "I mean, _look at this place_ – it looks like two messy little kids live here. We're gonna have to be more careful and make sure we're ready the next time someone comes over. We were able to fool some kids our age but we'd _never_ fool a real ninja if they came in here and saw all this."

"Yeah, I guess," agreed Chuuya, joining him. "Still, Naruto has some really weird friends."

Inari grinned. "Yeah," he said, laughing a little, "and what does that make US?"

* * *

**Konohamaru**

The three members of the Konohamaru Ninja Squad made their way down the series of stairs that lead from Naruto's top-floor apartment down to the Leaf Village streets. As they walked, the expression on their leader's young face grew gradually more serious. Without warning, the nine-year old stopped dead in his tracks.

Udon and Moegi, following right behind him, thudded off the brown-haired boy's back.

Udon straightened his glasses while Moegi gave Konohamaru's arm a hard, angry swat. "Hey! Whatdja do THAT for?"

Konohamaru's brow knitted as he looked back at her. "Did anything about that seem _weird _to you?"

"You mean with Naruto?" clarified Udon after a pause. He and Moegi shared a look. "Compared to what?"

"Yeah," the red-head agreed with a snorting snicker. "Naruto's really nice and everything, and a pretty strong ninja! But he's not exactly normal even when he hasn't been sick."

Konohamaru adjusted the lay of his lengthy scarf and crossed his arms. "Naw, there was something different about him. It's like…it's like he's KEEPING something from us." The ninja cadet turned toward his friends and pumped his fist into a palm, his little-kid face curdling with the determined scowl of a samurai lord. "There's something going on with Naruto; and **WE'RE** gonna find out WHAT!"

Udon winced with apprehensive concern; Moegi rolled her eyes, both knowing (like usual) that they'd just been volunteered.

* * *

**Haku**

Approaching on a path that would take him right past his targets, Haku, in the guise of an old porter on his way home from the docks, tried to clear his mind. The secret of Zabuza's instant-kill techniques was not to think about what you were about to do and just do it. Most ninja and even some untrained civilians were sensitive to deadly intent which could put them on guard even if they weren't aware of it. Zabuza's genius was that he could kill naturally, like a snake striking – without thought, without premeditation, pure 'mind of no-mind'.

_There he is,_ Haku confirmed to himself as he drew close enough to notice Aya's eel circling in a high, distant orbit, and then the profiled features of Lord Noriyasu Tsujita's face. _There's no mistaking it._

If the man looked awful before, he was much worse now. His hair had thinned almost to nothing. What remained had lost all trace of its' previous chestnut color, becoming no more than wispy straws of ashen grey. The sad, deep, basset-hound eyes that Haku remembered were sunken and hollow now, and the moist trickle beneath his nose was as much blood as phlegm.

Tsujita's guardian, a much younger, stockier man with a pallid complexion stood by but apparently couldn't see through Haku's Transformation Jutsu either.

The ninja was a little surprised that it wasn't Lord Nikai, (or, at least, he didn't appear to be). Haku had always assumed that the ninja lord would want to be on hand for the destruction of the Mist Village, but his absence made sense too if Tohma didn't want to risk exposure to his colleagues' plagues.

_Which is just as well if it makes this easier,_ thought Haku.

To neutralize Lord Tsujita's kekkei-genkai, Haku repeated to himself, he would have to unleash the full power of his own with all the chakra he could summon, flash-freezing the man and his guardian solid.

Drawing closer, the Demon's Apprentice tried to put himself in the right mind-set – thinking about nothing, falling into a state of pure, moving zen. The teenager approached; sweat beading along his hairline, his heart beating faster despite all his techniques to calm it until he came to the optimal point for attack but then…and then…

He just…

Let the moment…

Slip.

Instead, he found himself walking past his targets; he just couldn't help it. And he kept walking…and walking, feeling frustration and shame burn under his skin with every departing step.

Now what was he going to do?

_What happened to me?_ Haku demanded to know, seized by the breadth and scope of his failure – a bitter self-betrayal. _If Zabuza had asked me to kill them, if they'd attacked my master I wouldn't have thought twice about it. What makes this so different?_

The teenager slowed to a stop, heard the ninja lord behind him cough hard, then turned around. What he was about to do just now might be the most profoundly stupid thing he had ever done. At the same time Haku found himself resigned to it…since it seemed it was all he was capable of.

"Lord Tsujita," he inquired mildly, letting his jutsu fade. "Are you all right?"

The thickly-built bodyguard startled then interposed himself between the two, unblinking eyes fixed on Haku but -.

"Lord Aramata?" said Tsujita in amazement as the stricken, older man wiped his nose and mouth then peered out from behind his protector. "Is that you?"

Haku nodded, removed his mask, then ventured: "May I speak with you?"

"Yes, but Sir, you really shouldn't be here."

As the bodyguard begrudgingly but obediently gave way, Haku joined Tsujita as the man turned back to look out over the black-watered canal and the old buildings that flanked it, mirrored in its waters.

"May I ask how you found me?" inquired Tsujita who gave his visitor a fond, fleeting glance and grin.

"Ninjutsu."

"Ha!" the ninja patriarch laughed cheerily, noting, "you have a dry, good-natured sense of humor - very unusual for a ninja." By degrees the man's light-heartedness faded. "So," he quipped conversationally, "you decided to join us after all?"

The young constable shook his head then worried his lip. "I must ask you to reconsider."

Tsujita stifled a fit of coughing and smiled grimly. "It's come far too far for that, young master. Kirigakure must be punished. They must pay the price - the same one we paid."

Haku sucked in his thin lips and nodded. After all, what had he expected? "But look around," the raven-haired constable argued. "Look at all these people. Most of them weren't even born when our clans were destroyed."

"War is harsh," replied Tsujita, his rasping voice laden with fatalistic truth. "And it doesn't care about such trivial things as innocence or guilt. Fueled by memory it must rage until it burns itself out."

"It's not like that - some impersonal thing like a force of nature; inevitable. The reason it continues is because people _make_ it continue." Haku looked toward the old man, trying to maintain the cool demeanor he was known for no matter how desperate he was on the inside. Even now he had to wonder if the very air around him was swarming stew-thick with the pestilential offspring of the ninja-patriarch's kekkei-genkai.

Tsujita could certainly kill him, that much was sure, the only real question was: could he kill quickly? Even the most lethal strains and species of virus and bacteria, amoeba and protozoan needed a little time to work. Although, considering the nature of the man's blood-gift, nothing could be taken for granted.

_Of course, _Haku assumed with a frown, _Tsujita's bodyguard can probably make up for any of his master's shortcomings._

"Lord Tsujita," Haku went on in a quavering tone, "this is a horrid, lingering, agonizing kind of death you bring to all these people: innocent people, men, women and children, civilians. Please, put away the past. Let them live. Let them -." The words stopped in Haku's throat as he stared at the ninja lord. From the expression he'd just caught in the old man's face, it now dawned on the teenager that his words were wasted…but not for the reason he feared. "You," he muttered, not daring to believe himself what he was saying: "you have no intention of going through with it."

The older man shifted uncomfortably.

Tsujita's guardian, who'd been standing by so tolerantly, looked at the man in alarm, gripped him by the arm then looked into his elder's eyes with the question hard on his pale face.

"I know, Hideo," Tsujita told him. "You're upset. I don't blame you. You, of all people, deserve your revenge…and Tohma; Tohma will be very, very angry with me, and disappointed beyond all measure. I was to be the lynch-pin of his plans."

Hideo, his expression boiling with unvoiced emotion, tightened his grip.

"Stop!" the older man ordered and his bodyguard slowly complied. "I know how much this must hurt you, but your master said you are to obey me no matter what…and I'm sorry for that too."

With matters between the two settling, the ailing ninja and the constable turned again to stare out over the canal.

"I'm dying," confessed Tsujita in a matter-of-fact tone. "All these last years I devoted to storing up organisms in my own body, cultivating them like hothouse orchids even as they slowly ate away at me, looking toward a measure of revenge against the Mist Village for what they've done; looking forward to a world without the Mist Village in it…but," his voice softened, "I didn't really know how marvelous a thing life was until I'd come to the end of mine.

"And how can I go," the man continued, tears welling in his rheumy eyes, "how can I face the afterlife as a mass-murderer, with more blood on my hands than all the lords of all the hidden villages put together?"

Haku marveled, utterly speechless at the elder ninja's revelation, half-sure he had to be imagining all of this. Feeling a little faint, the young constable gripped the guard-wall's rough, stone cap to restore some assurance of reality.

"No one should have to die so far from home, family and friends," the teenager ventured in cautious sympathy, not daring to overreach.

"I know what you're trying to say, young master," answered the afflicted ninja wryly. "There's no need to be coy.

"Lord Nikai's jutsu got me inside the village." His thin, ashen brows rose. "I suppose, unlike me, since you got in too that you also have a way out?"

Haku's lips quivered with emotion as an overpowering swell of relief and elation bubbled to the surface. "Of course!" the teenager gasped breathlessly, unable to contain himself. "Of course I do!"

* * *

_Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoyed. Of course, I'll understand if a 34 page chapter is a little much._

_FYI, the greatest countries in the world this month, based on the only metric that truly matters – the number of total hits on stories I've written – is as follows in order: 1) United States (yay), United Kingdom (word!), and Malaysia (always did like your curry)._

_BTW, where you AT, Canada? You used to be good to me! ;)_


	20. The Jinchuuriki's Mandate Part 3

_Hi, and welcome back ;)_

* * *

**Only when the year grows cold do we see**

**that the pine and cypress are the last to fade.**

**-Chinese proverb.**

* * *

**If Being a Ninja Was Easy…**

"If you are to be a weapon at my side, Haku," growled Zabuza, "then you must be strong and sharp."

The little eight-year-old looked up tentatively at the towering figure of his famous master who stood at the edge of the forest clearing not with his eight-foot-long zanbato sword slung over a shoulder but a ponderous club of similarly massive proportions called a 'ruler'. Just the sight of the ninja, the youngest of the Seven Legendary Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist, posed thusly was enough to make the apprentice quake with trepidation at what the immediate future held.

Haku bit his lip and brushed a long ribbon of black hair from his girlish face. Sensei was going to make him fight again…and he _hated_ fighting.

But The Demon of the Hidden Mist had saved him from a vagrant's life and slow, inevitable death by starvation, exposure and the pitiless, almost universal hatred of everyone in the Land of Water. This magnificent man, this ninja of the Hidden Mist, had saved him from all the perils of the world, drawn him into his sphere and given Haku a new life with a grand purpose. Dying in the attempt to please Master Zabuza, however painful or violent, would be _infinitely_ preferable to disappointing him.

"Now then," the jonin continued sternly as he leveled a stony glare, "let's see if you've learned anything in these last few months."

Haku shrank, knowing he wasn't ready, but resolved to give everything he had to the effort.

"By the way - this ruler probably weighs two-hundred pounds. So make sure it doesn't hit you."

Without further explanation, Zabuza attacked. Rushing at his tiny student with a bestial roar, the jonin spun, whipping his club low with the kind of speed no one would think possible for a weapon so large, kicking up leaves and carving a hemi-circular arc in the ground where the end caught.

The pale little boy, with mouth and eyes wide with terror, recovered his senses barely in time to hurl himself over the oncoming sweep, wobbled when he hit the ground then ducked when his master continued the motion high.

In the buffeting vortex created in the wake of his sensei's ruler, Haku felt the power behind it – more than enough to send him to oblivion even with a glancing blow! Already the boy's head pounded, his breath rattled, and his thoughts spiraled out of control. The training he'd had and the 'natural' talent that coursed supposedly through his veins all seemed to have fled; and the fight had barely even begun!

**Panic** was the only thing left! The apprentice ninja stumbled out of the way of another swipe that passed in a furious blur, scrambled back again, again and again in a desperate attempt to gain some distance then fled for his life.

But the Demon of the Hidden Mist would have none of it, and pursued his terrified student with even greater vengeance the more Haku retreated, smashing down every tree the boy hid behind, shattering every rock then following him with whirling lashes, clubbing overhands and battering-ram thrusts that would splinter the gates of the strongest castle.

As Haku started to slow from fatigue his willowy arms, legs and delicate ribs tasted heavy oak even the slightest brushes of which cracked bones, bruised skin and punished flesh.

After long minutes of this, abruptly, Zabuza ceased and Haku, hyperventilating and trembling from shock, braced himself on wobbly knees, half-blinded by the sweat that rolled down his young face.

"You were able to avoid taking too much damage _so far_," his master pointed out in a voice cold as ice. "But what have your tactics accomplished?"

Haku swallowed hard, looked up and shook his head, completely perplexed. He really didn't know and was far too dazed and battered right now to even try to venture a guess.

Zabuza lowered his fearsome, draconian gaze, a prosecutor in blue and grey mist-shinobi fatigues and heavy, armored jacket. "Look at you," he began critically, gesturing with his ruler as if it were as light as a straw, "you're exhausted, half dead already. All your movement and energy is coming from your body. Your chakra isn't flowing at all. You're just reacting with no idea of what to do next.

"And where it's true that sometimes you can tire your opponent, did you really imagine that you could outlast ME?"

Haku's thin brows knitted fretfully; his heart sank. Though he hadn't studied the mysteries of ninjutsu long, the boy had to acknowledge that the chances of him surviving against his bigger, stronger, faster, fiercer, smarter and better-trained sensei with not even a shred of strategy were pretty slim.

"Because you did not counterattack," lectured Zabuza, "because you did not affect me or reduce my ability to destroy you, NOW look around and see what you have to face."

Haku followed the sweeping gesture of his master's muscular arm, and quickly noticed that the battleground was now surrounded in eerie billows of thick, impenetrable mist. The boy's grey eyes went wide then as a dozen more Zabuza Momochis stepped from that mist to confront him…all identically armed with tree-trunk-like rulers.

As one, the ninjas surged at the little boy in a blue and grey whirlwind of rage, with clubs cocking back or winding up to lay him waste.

With his heart in his throat the young apprentice forced himself to be calm and draw upon the power of his chakra, scant as it was, and to remember what Zabuza had taught him. There were thirteen opponents now but not all could attack at once especially wielding weapons that big.

He'd have to keep moving, keep aware of his attackers and position them against each other…and he would have to counter.

With Zabuza's clones closing fast, Haku focused then went for his weapons but in all the excitement the boy had kind of forgotten where he'd hidden them. The apprentice ninja patted and searched through his drab traveler's clothing furiously but the handles of his kunai just seemed to squirm away every time he grabbed for them.

Hopping back at the last second, the Demon's Apprentice barely missed being flattened under a furious downward smash that cratered the ground. Haku danced away, ducking under then diving over more whirling clubs, using both his chakra and the elusive movements of crane-boxing sensei had showed him; just like he did when sparring with some of the 'gentler' shinobi Zabuza would assign to the task every so often.

With another smash oncoming, the boy apprentice finally committed himself and sidestepped only enough to let the ruler pass by. Finally finding his kunai, Haku slashed along the edge of the momentarily-slowed club just as it hit the ground, cutting off his attacker's fingers; the Zabuza-clone pulled back bloody hands then burst into a watery spray.

Tasting satisfaction for the first time while timing the next adversary's swing, Haku darted back then closed faster than the water-clone could recall his massive weapon. The little black-haired boy leaped, cutting the jutsu-conjured man behind the elbow with one hand and slashing quickly over its eyebrow with the other.

Disarmed and with blood pouring into its eyes, blinding it, this clone too turned back into water and splashed apart.

A sudden pressure in Haku's mind compelled him to drop FAST which he did just as a club whizzed overhead, clipping the boy across the shoulder blades when it passed. Haku grunted from the shock of impact, hit the ground face-first and much harder than he'd planned, then pushed off his hands to bring the rest of his body forward just as a spine-crushing blow thudded behind.

Despite seeing stars and almost incapacitated with pain, Haku sprang to his feet then rolled away from another swipe, flinging a kunai with all his strength at a distant Zabuza just as three others converged on him all with rulers homing for the kill.

Though the knife wobbled as it flew, it hit the Zabuza square in the center of the forehead across his hitai-ate. ALL the water clones burst apart then, drenching Haku who buckled under the weight of the onrushing sloshes.

With calm and quiet descending over the training field, the soggy, badly-beaten little boy looked up at his master uncertainly and clambered to his feet. As desperate as Haku was for this to be over, eclipsing those thoughts by far were his hopes that he'd made Zabuza happy in some way however small. If he'd accomplished that; if he'd given his master some cause to believe that the time he'd spent with his apprentice hadn't been a complete waste then this was a day Haku would cherish forever.

The kunai in the Demon of the Hidden Mist's forehead had not struck hard. The knife dropped away with the point just sticking in the fabric of his headband for a moment before it fell to the ground with a thud.

Zabuza stood his ruler upright next to him and was silent for a time. "How did you decide which one was real?" he asked at last.

Huffing and puffing, with his lungs feeling like they were going to burst, his head burning as if from terrible fever, and almost his entire body throbbing and aching from the blows he'd taken, Haku brushed the dirt from his scratched, wet face and the leaves from his tangled, matted hair self-consciously, nursed a swollen arm, gulped then offered in a shaky, heartbreakingly hopeful child's voice: "W…water…water clones don't s-sweat, s-s-Sensei." The boy sniffled, wiped his tearing eyes and dripping nose with a sleeve then tried to still his quivering lips. "And…and-and-and…y-y-you were the only one of them ha…h-hanging back."

The Demon of the Hidden Mist gave his eight-year old disciple a cruel grin…then himself turned to water and splashed apart.

Haku had just enough time to startle with wonder before a blow he never saw coming sent him rolling limp as a rag doll over the forest floor.

* * *

**Naruto**

_Strolling_ as he never thought he would through the foreign streets of Kirigakure no Sato with a wide, carefree, Cheshire Cat smile blooming under his borrowed ANBU mask, Naruto followed Haku at a discreet distance.

The genin could see the slightly stooped figure of Lord Noriyasu Tsujita, the clan patriarch burdened (or blessed) with a truly horrifying kekkei-genkai, plodding up ahead at his partner's right. At Haku's left walked whoever that was the ninja lord was traveling with but Naruto really didn't know or care about that at this point. There'd be plenty of time for introductions later.

Thinking back to what had happened just minutes ago, the blond couldn't help but laugh.

_What a relief!_ he marveled. _Haku didn't have to kill Tsujita after all but somehow just talked the old guy out of wiping-out the Mist Village instead. _

Naruto couldn't have been more surprised than when Haku had flashed him the subtle but unmistakable signal to stand-down, and the teenager made a mental note to find out just what in the world the constable had said.

_Demon's Apprentice – nothing!_ thought Naruto slyly. _From now on, your new nickname is: 'The Silver-Tongued DEVIL!'_

It was hard for the leaf-genin not to giggle and swell with pride a little at his friend's accomplishment. As enamored as Naruto was with great ninja battles, slashing swords and jaw-dropping displays of jutsu, there was certainly an impressive, understated and undervalued elegance to non-violent solutions.

_Nobody gets hurt and everybody gets to go home,_ the thirteen-year-old summed up happily then remembered something similar that Pervy Sage had tried to explain to him one time like: 'people who are mad today can be happy tomorrow…but if they're dead today they'll still be dead tomorrow.'*

_Eh, it was something like that._

_Anyway THAT'S the kind of Hokage I'M going to be!_ Naruto vowed, brightening even more as he thought about the future, _one who can do it ALL – talking AND fighting._

_And YOU, Haku, I'm DEFINITELY putting YOU on the payroll. You're gonna make an AWESOME councilor!_

_You see? I knew you could do it,_ he thought towards the girlish ninja then rested his hands casually behind his head.

_This is going to be the easiest mission EVER! I'll get back to Konoha in a couple of days and no one will even know I was gone._

Naruto winced then as he suddenly remembered something else, something really important!

_I sure hope Inari and Chuuya didn't mess up my place…_

* * *

**all theories  
like clichés  
shot to hell,  
all these small faces  
looking up  
beautiful and believing;  
I wish to weep  
but sorrow is  
stupid.****  
I wish to believe  
but belief is a  
graveyard.  
we have narrowed it down to  
the butcherknife and the  
mockingbird.  
wish us  
luck.**

**-charles bukowski**

* * *

**Inoue**

"You seem a little on-edge, Pradesh," the silver-haired kunoichi remarked to her captain of security surrounded by the streamlined comforts of her stateroom aboard her floating command center, the Sophae.

The mist-ninja, slightly taken-aback, immediately traded his concerned expression for one more suitably martial. "It will pass, Lady Inoue," Pradesh reported but could not maintain his stoic demeanor for long. "It's just that," the man hesitated to explain as he drew a calloused finger across his chin's dark stubble, "I never imagined being involved in an undertaking like this - something remembered throughout history. A hundred years from now people will look back and mark this day, knowing how it was before and what followed after."

The councilor nodded, poured herself a cup of steaming black tea then blew to temper it. "I quite understand. You needn't be at all embarrassed. It only underscores that you appreciate the significance of the events about to unfold," she said then drew a careful sip, savoring the slightly bitter but still mellow flavor. "Change is never easy," the woman remarked in an easy drawl, "even when it's necessary."

"You're not nervous at all, my lady, about what is to come?"

Inoue straightened her patterned, sapphire shawl, rose then wandered to cast a long look out one of the armored portholes. In the distance, Kirigakure no Sato was an unremarkable strip of gray and green layered between a cobalt sea and a leaden sky.

"No," she answered with a calm, introspective air, "curious, yes, of course, but not nervous. We've been erecting and arranging these dominoes for years. For me, the only thing different about today is that the time has finally arrived to set them tumbling."

The swarthy jonin smiled grimly as he folded sinewy arms. "You make it sound like such a simple thing – overthrowing the Mizukage, destroying the Mist Village and recreating it in Wave Country. If the ninja world has seen a bolder plan I do not remember it."

"The theories are simple," the councilwoman observed. "Dominoes fall the way the do due to stored energy and gravity – just physics, really. People act the way they do due to human nature – biology, I suppose, psychology perhaps, but all sciences governed by certain predictable constants."

"People are trickier." Pradesh sounded sure at first but then backed off: "Some of them anyway."

"That's the thing - we don't need ALL the people to go along with us, just most of them. And in the face of imminent danger only a very few will stand around asking questions, even among shinobi. Almost as few will pay them any mind. Most will do just as they're told. I'm quite sure."

"And after?"

Inoue gave the ninja a patient, grandmotherly smile. "It won't matter after," she lilted. "There will be those who analyze how so many of Water Country's blood-gifted families could have managed to survive after being hunted for so long a time. They will question all the whos, whats, wheres and whys of Kirigakure's downfall and resurrection, Lord Oku's death and, of course, my assent to Mizukage. But they will all be seen as traitors and liars, conspiracy theorists, political ideologists or cranks and ultimately fall into irrelevance. For everyone else, those questions will matter about as much as the shape of last year's clouds.

"You know, Pradesh," the councilwoman continued instructively, "I've often said that great nations are built on myths, not truths. Kirigakure's survivors and, of course, all the ninja brigades I've spared from the 'pox' will be free to chose whether to believe they are a part of the noble and heroic struggle to rebuild their village…or not. Or I suppose they could all choose to believe that they're just pawns in a cruel game played by autocrats occupying seats of lofty, inscrutable power." She laughed with a wink then raised her forefinger, saying: "Mythology, clearly, is on our side."

Cocking his head, Pradesh matched her playful tone as much as his normally dour disposition and gravelly basso voice would allow, "Which is the truth?"

"Well that's what I'm trying to tell you," Inoue gushed; eyes flashing like a magician's, "the truth doesn't matter. No one really fights and dies for 'truth', only what they choose to _believe_ is the truth. Objective truth, if there is such a thing, is absolute and unchanging; it's cold as the grave, cold as death. People run from truth, _fear_ truth, and rightly so - the truth is unrelentingly ugly and unpleasant. And who in this world can really say that they understand it anyway?

But _belief,"_ she observed in tones rising with inspiration, "is fluid and adaptive; _easily _frees those who possess it from the shackles of memory and history, and allows them to ignore the normally stubborn obstacles of reality, reason, humanity, and common sense. People fight and die for belief.

"Where the truth is cold, belief burns hot. Belief…is the animating force of life itself!"

While Pradesh's face fell into an expression of reverie, the councilwoman and clan matriarch paused to take another drink of her tea.

"Kirigakure…poor Kirigakure," she mused quietly. "That's part of our problem, you know. Lord Oku just couldn't keep up the myths the Sandaime started." Shaking her head, the mist-ninja added: "Indoctrinating an entire generation of shinobi in the belief that the only way to protect the Land of Water from a world teaming with enemies is to be uncompromisingly fearsome and bloodthirsty - I mean," Inoue half-chuckled, "the idea doesn't stand a moment of scrutiny, does it."

Pradesh's eyes, one obsidian-black, the other bone-white narrowed. "What do you mean?" he asked, his voice lowering just a bit pointedly.

"Well, it's obvious. Even if all the other elemental nations COULD ever agree on a single course of action (like invading us) they'd all go bankrupt building the enormous navies and training the thousands of soldiers and hundreds of ninja to wage war far from home where they would have to take by force and then control through permanent occupation hundreds of islands strewn out over a thousand miles of ocean in a committed effort that would have no foreseeable or predictable end. Although you can't say that such a thing is 'impossible', the likelihood of an invasion like that ever threatening the Land of Water is _fantastically_ unlikely and not something to base an entire generation's reason for existence on unless there's something else to be achieved which, of course…there was."

Silence fell like a pall.

"Oh," the startled councilwoman realized, "that was callous of me, wasn't it? You believed it too." Inoue grimaced then shook her head at her own thoughtlessness, lamenting how gabby she'd become in her confident old-age. "I should have remembered – the Third Mizukage had a way about him, an especially powerful charisma that made whatever he said so easy to embrace."

The jonin's dark brows knitted as he turned his face from her. "If the other nations were never really a threat, then why…?"

"Who can say? It's all water under the bridge now," Inoue concluded dismissively, a bit annoyed at, once-again, finding herself having to treat a grown man like a child. "But our Sandaime was _never_ interested in _defending _Water Country, you must have noticed. After all, where are the fortifications, the hardened infrastructure, the tunnels, storehouses, depots and all the other preparations you'd expect to see if you were a nation preparing to be invaded? The Land of Water has none of that. You studied military tactics at the Martial School; you must have –." A breath escaped her as the frustrated kunoichi abandoned the tack. "Nevermind," she offered wearily and waved her hand. "At any rate, the armies he raised are clearly for _offensive_ purposes."

"Offensive?" Pradesh wondered, and his master had no doubt that it was for the first time in his life. "For what?"

The kunoichi shrugged. "It's possible that he had in mind expanding the Land of Water, maybe even dreamt of world domination or something equally silly. Most think, and I think, he was just out to settle some old score against the Hidden Leaf Village."

The matriarch's cloudy eyes followed her chief of security.

There were women who absolutely _reveled_ in the fact that some of the strongest men in the world could have their souls shattered by a single well-constructed or, in this case, carelessly-offered phrase. To Inoue, it was just one more of life's ugly complications.

"Are you all right?" she inquired at last.

Pradesh drew himself up. "Fine, my lady," he stated. "I forgot for a moment that my duty is to implement policy, whatever it may be, and not to make it."

Inoue nodded, impressed and reassured by her ninja's correctness. "Quite so," the woman affirmed then tried to buoy him. "I can tell you're disappointed though because what you'd held so dear to your heart as true turned out not to be. But _don't _be. That there never were any barbarians at our gates shouldn't weigh on you. Remember instead how _alive_ that belief made you feel, how important, how much a part of something greater than yourself. _That_ is what is important. _That_ is what really matters.

"That belief _did_ was it was supposed to do – it made you train hard and work hard. It made you love your country and integrated you as part of it. It made you a better man and Kirigakure a stronger village.

"The myth that we shinobi of the mist are all great defenders of our nation has been over for awhile. It couldn't live on without the Third Mizukage himself to sustain it, especially with cruel reality telling us that we are all but forgotten in the world and feared in those places where we are remembered; that all our preparations for war have left Kirigakure and the Land of Water a thousand ways impoverished."

The councilwoman looked up meaningfully. "It's time for a new, equally potent and motivating myth: one of resurrection and rebirth.

"As a purely practical matter," she continued, "it will help set us on the path to a more prosperous future. Kirigakure has wallowed too long burdened by the past, weighed by effects of decisions made and hierarchies established by people long dead. We're drowning in dysfunctional order, a corrupted ethos and our own sorry, paranoid and violent reputation. It's long past time to cut that Gordian knot and start afresh with new leadership in new environs, absolved from the sins of the past."

Pradesh looked at her then, in his own blunt way, cut to the chase - "A lot of people are going to die."

"A necessary sacrifice," replied Inoue. "Change requires it. If it gives you any sense of perspective, just think of how many have died over the years to keep things the way they are – martyrs to a dying order."

Pradesh checked the clock.

"In just a few minutes, the very public and spectacular death of Lord Tsujita at the hands of an elite ANBU assassination team will announce the new era. He won't be the first, or the last, to fall. But in the end, should Heaven and Earth favor us, we'll raise a Village worthy of all those lost lives."

* * *

**Mist Ninjas**

"MAN, it's great to be home!" Riki declared grandly as he and the other two members of his squad used their jutsu to walk atop the smooth waters of the Unagi Canal. The way was so narrow along this stretch that any of them could almost touch the walls of the buildings flanking them just by stretching out their arms. "I can't get over it, Yumei," the lanky teenager continued in glowing admiration, "you actually made chunin!"

The ranking kunoichi, a tall and slender auburn-haired girl, grimaced and rubbed her temples.

"It's you guys' fault," she answered in a good-natured but distracted tone. "I couldn't have done it if I'd had anyone else on my team. AND you made me look like one of the Seven Swordsmen in the after-action report."

Jiri, the shorter, youngest, blue-haired third of their group gave her a curious look with luminous, pale eyes. "You ok?"

"No," Yumei started glumly, "yeah, it's just – I got this headache and I can't seem to shake it."

"Did you hit your pressure points?"

She nodded. "I tried that. I had something to eat and took some pills but it still won't go away."

Riki, chafing at this unwelcome change in what should be a festive mood during the week of the Ascension Ceremonies, tried to brighten things. "Well, we're almost to your clan's villa," he chimed with still-boyish assertiveness. "You can get something for it there, right?"

Yumei nodded though her lips were still pressed in a thin line.

"I'm really looking forward to finally getting to see your house. I heard a lot about the Li clan so I'm picturing, like, SKULLS on the walls and stuff."

"It's nothing like that! Come on!" the girl protested; her normal, teasing enthusiasm showing through. "We threw out all the skulls YEARS ago. All that's on the walls now is -."

"Is what?"

"Um…my dad's fishing trophies and mom's needlepoint mostly."

"Needlepoint?" Riki echoed in disbelief, sharing a curious look with Jiri.

Yumei's expression wriggled a little. "Needles are her favorite weapon but she uses them for other things too." The kunoichi thought about it for a moment. "Just don't make fun, ok?"

"Ok," assured Riki who continued smugly: "but only 'cause it's a special day."

Yumei stopped at an unassuming, heavily lacquered door a few steps up from the waterline, sheltered in a deep alcove.

Both teammates regarded it dubiously.

"Is this it?" ventured Jiri.

"It's much bigger inside, come on."

The girl threaded her key home, opened the door and ushered her partners down a long, narrow hall that opened into a spectacular, landscaped courtyard three stories high, bounded by ornately-railed balconies and open to the cloud-laden sky.

"Alright!" crowed Riki gustily. "I didn't know you were rich! Yumei -"

But the teenager didn't hear. All froze at the somewhat surreal sight of the motionless couple reposed on one of the courtyard's stone benches: a woman lying down as if asleep with her head resting tenderly in her companion's lap.

The girl trembled, her face squirming with confusion and concern. "Mom…Dad?" she cried then raced to her parents.

"Yumei?" Riki offered, hovering close by, almost paralyzed in shock while his leader tried furiously but unsuccessfully to rouse them. Even with his relative inexperience, the teenager could tell they were not merely asleep.

The chunin fell back in despair, pressing her hands tightly against her temples as her expression strained. "Riki," she ordered curtly, "search the house. Jiri, go get help, now!"

As her teammates raced off, Yumei Li fell and wept disconsolately in the grass.

The help Jiri would bring would come too late.

Riki, shy as he was, would soon report to his distraught leader in a gasping voice that there was no one in the house still alive.

* * *

**Haku**

_It's really over, isn't it, _Haku considered happily though he could still hardly believe it. _Kirigakure's safe, and their ninja don't know anything about the blood-gifted clans' descendants._

_Lord Nikai might still be difficult if he won't give up his designs for vengeance, but,_ the teenager allowed in the name of reason, _one thing at a time._

_Wave Country…Mari,_ he continued, stirring dreamily. _I really did it. I'm really going home._

Glancing aside, the young ninja directed his thoughts toward his partner and friend, Naruto Uzumaki, who trailed surreptitiously behind. Though the blond was well out of sight, Haku felt comforted by the unseen leaf-ninja's presence.

_You were right. You were right the whole time._

In retrospect, Haku couldn't help but be a little embarrassed at his earlier pessimism.

_I have to apologize, Naruto,_ he offered in grateful humility._ I really thought I was so much wiser, so much smarter, that I had to keep an eye on you…just because I'm a couple of years older, because I have more experience and you're always so impulsive. But in the end it went just the way you said it would._

_And I really don't know if I would have had the courage to take such a risk – doing things MY way, not Zabuza's, without you with me._

Looking to his left, the young constable's cheery, mellow and introspective mood was fouled as he found Hideo's glassy eyes glaring back in cold accusation.

Looking right, to the frail figure of Lord Noriyasu Tsujita, the constable found himself again quite moved. The afflicted old ninja had failed his mission, no, worse – he'd abandoned it. At the same time, the faint smile on that sickly face gave no indication of shame but instead a glimpse of the magnificent insight the man had gained. In the world's brutal history, how many people really treasured life, any life, so highly that they'd set aside their own righteous anger; that they'd let their enemies live when the means to destroy them were right at hand.

_What if everyone felt that way?_

It was a beautiful thought, Haku mused. But for right now it was enough to live another day…for his heart ached for home.

Passing over the North Star Bridge into the Piazza del Carne', Haku looked over the weathered rooftops toward the awaiting sanctuary of the Shingen Aqueduct in which was secreted the passage home. The teenager's fond gaze dropped toward the way ahead and all the people, the statues and fountains then noted how the waters flowing from them bent just slightly in his direction.

_Oh, no,_ Haku had just enough time to think in the instant before everything changed.

* * *

**The Continuing Adventures**

**of the**

**Konohamaru Ninja Squad**

Under a cloudless umbrella of brilliant blue Fire Country sky Moegi climbed up the last few rungs of the rusty access ladder then stepped over a parapet to arrive at last on the sweltering, gravel-carpeted rooftop. Catching her breath while praying for the day when she'd be able to just jump up to the top of a building with a single chakra-assisted leap, the apprentice ninja shaded her eyes and searched for her partner but didn't see him.

"Huh," the little red-headed girl wondered then went looking.

Only after a minute or so did she note something odd about one of the mechanical units then went over and knocked on it. Up close, the girl could see now that part of it was a corrugated refrigerator box craftily-painted to look like metal.

"Come in," a young, lethargic voice responded.

Moegi found the access panel, opened it and found Udon wadded up inside.

The sweaty, brown-haired boy set down binoculars and looked up at her, his drooping eyes magnified large by his big, round glasses. "Hi Moegi," he greeted then wiped his always-leaking nose with a cloth.

The girl squeezed in, squatted beside him in the extremely confining space then looked through a grille, across the way toward the door to Naruto Uzumaki's apartment.

"I gotta say: you've really outdone yourself, Udon," she piped as she pushed the twin towers of her orange hair down to fit better against the low, cardboard roof. "This place is great! It's like…like a duck blind or something. It really blends in."

Udon smiled sheepishly and nodded.

"Not too comfortable though. UGH! It's like a hundred degrees in here. So did you see anything?"

"No, nothing; Naruto's been inside all day," the cadet reported in a tone more weary than usual. "Konohamaru's been trying to listen in at the door and windows but he hasn't heard anything.

"Y'know…" Udon was about to continue then fell quiet.

"What?" his teammate prodded curiously. "Oh, I'll bet I know: you think Konohamaru's crazy thinking Naruto's up to something when really he's just been sick." Moegi followed with a playful, confiding laugh. "Which makes US pretty stupid sitting here in this hot-box waiting for something to happen when nothing's going to."

Udon's chestnut eyebrows lifted at the remark but he still nodded in begrudging agreement.

Shooting him a look, the aspiring kunoichi suggested: "We COULD just say 'no' one of these times. WHY do we always go along with him?"

Udon shrugged. "And then what?"

"Mmm, I didn't think about that." The girl's expression tensed. "I guess one of US would have to be leader then."

Their sidelong glances met.

"I don't know if that'd work out any better," Udon, in an abundance of sincerity, ventured. "Do you? Besides…Konohamaru, well, you know, HAS to be leader. He just...he just _does!_"

The red-head's freckled face slackened as she ended up agreeing. "You're probably right. And I guess it _would_ be kind of dull without Konohamaru talking us into doing stuff like this."

Udon nodded then gave a philosophical sigh. "I figured it was good training for later on when we're ninjas doing this for real."

"Well, this blind is a LOT better than any of the ones we did before…like that _square _'boulder' we tried to sneak up on Naruto in. Remember that?"

The two shared a laugh.

"Well, I'd better get going," Udon lamented after a time. "My mom's already mad at me for being away so long." The nine-year old grimaced then groaned as he unfolded himself after _hours_ of dutiful surveillance. "Do ya want me to get you anything from the store?"

Moegi brightened at the offer. "Um, yeah, something cold to drink would be great." A hard realization of the ninja life dawned on her. "I guess I'm gonna be here awhile."

* * *

**Haku**

In flashes too quick to follow, the waters of the fountains merged and came spiraling at the three in twisting, coiling ribbons. Haku grabbed Tsujita, knocking him down, but was too late to prevent the ninja patriarch's head and arm from being severed by the rippling ribbon's passage.

Shocked screams rang out from the Mist Village's terrified citizens who suddenly found themselves in the middle of a war zone, dropped whatever they were carrying then scattered in every direction like panicked game.

As Haku hit the ground with his arms still clinched around the now dismembered body, time seemed to slow.

_An ambush,_ he realized in a heartbeat. The full scope of his naiveté and the depths of his failure gripped him inside. _Aya, she must have told the ANBU. I never should have placed such trust in her._

The ninja's grey eyes sought Tsujita's limbs as they spun end over end through the air, trailing spattering crimson on their way earthward. Before they hit, Haku reached out with his kekkei-genkai and froze them all, head, arm and body, solid. Simultaneously the ninja's cold saved him as the razor ribbons of water homing back toward him turned at once to ice, stopping dead before they could reach him.

A quick glance behind was all it took to inform Haku that Hideo's twitching, butchered corpse lay strewn in pieces over the unforgiving pavement along with the remains of some Water Country civilians unfortunate enough to have been passing by in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The young ninja felt water pool around him; water that had not been there an instant before. The Demon's Apprentice tried to spring to his feet and leap away but found that his left arm and leg had been cut deep down to the bone, forcing him to log-roll away instead, splashing as he went. No sooner had he gotten clear then a mist-ninja sprang from the water as if it were fathoms deep, one of her two gleaming 'ghost-head' broadswords hissing right through where Haku had been an instant before.

The shinobi, a fearsome creature covered all over in a mandala of black tattoos and eager for the kill, leaped after her crippled prey but was buffeted back by a driving, shockingly-cold arctic wind that rose out of nowhere. Recovering and charging, the mist-kunoichi was brought to a halt by a swarming mob of furious, snarling, masked mist-ninjas.

What was _really _strange though was how small they were…and how blond.

* * *

**Naruto**

In the blink of an eye the tattooed swordswoman cleared out a swath of Naruto's doubles with a flowing, figure-eight slash of her blades then leaped back, paused and took a casual pose.

"I'm gonna take a stab (so to speak) and say that you're not _really_ a ninja of the Hidden Mist," the kunoichi suggested, not the least bit phased by the sudden arrival of a legion of shadow-clones. "By the way," she added, "it seems like I've felt that other guy's chakra before. That couldn't be Haku, Zabuza's kid, could it? 'Cause last I heard, Yamashite'd killed his ass."

As Naruto scowled under his mask, the woman craned her head to look over the top of his vast (but still short) army of clones. _"Hey!_ yelled the woman._ Haku! Is that you?"_

The lead Naruto's face screwed. "YOU'LL never know!" he retorted fiercely but beneath his bravado the genin could tell that this opponent was strong, smart and slick…like his sensei, Kakashi.

The woman flashed a devil-may-care smile. "Sure I will," she corrected. "You don't actually have to be alive to answer my questions. We've got a whole team that specializes in post-mortem interrogations WHICH you would know IF you were one of us."

"Yeah, well, don't count your bodies before they're dead."

The ninja conceded the point. "True, true. Thanks for reminding me."

Streaking forward across the wet pavement, the woman charged the mob, slashing away with a butcher's sureness and a ballerina's grace. Shadow-clone limbs, heads, torsos and viscera spun violently through the air before popping into gusts of vaporous chakra. The mini-army of genin divided themselves into smaller groups that did everything in their power to counter-attack, head her off or slow her down for the rest to overwhelm but it was useless. When the kunoichi moved, she slid and skated effortlessly over the surface of the water faster than the eye could follow, switching directions in ways that mocked physics. Yet when she planted, that same water rooted her to the spot so firmly that she could not be off-balanced.

* * *

"Come ON, Haku!" the real Naruto urged meanwhile some distance away, crouching over the grimacing, raven-haired constable who struggled to rise with one hand clamped over a blood-soaked upper arm, while two more of the leaf-ninja's shadow clones kept lookout.

The Demon's Apprentice shook his head desolately. "I'm sorry, Naruto," the teenager croaked. "I failed. My plan was doomed from the start."

"Forget it," the blond insisted then shot a look toward his remaining clones as they were being slaughtered right and left. "We got bigger things to worry about!"

Helping his limping friend to his feet, all four made a break back toward the North Star Bridge but were forced to skid to a halt then fall back as the water flowing in the canal beneath it suddenly roared to life in towering geysers of white spray that poured forth a dozen crystalline serpents.

The monsters flashed at the young ninjas, rippling like banners in the wind. All managed to dodge the razor-toothed maws, but Haku, slowed by his wounds, was sent sprawling by one of the creatures' wild, whipping tails.

Half the number of serpents split off to circle around in a wide perimeter, preventing any chance for escape; the other half lunged at their encircled prey. As two of the jutsu-conjured creatures struck toward Haku one of Naruto's clones charged, knocking one into the other and altering the serpents' trajectory enough to miss the stunned teenager by a hair.

"Sh-t!" Naruto cursed as he ran to cover his partner, with he and his other clone preparing a Rasengan as they went. The leaf-ninja finished it just in time to leap high into the air and blast through three of the watery dragons as they descended toward the constable, twisting and wrapping around each other in cyclic fury.

The blond genin crouched as he landed amidst a spray of water then rolled aside as another dragon snapped its jaws where he'd been, skimming the ground in its passage. In all the frenzy of flashing, scimitar teeth and coiling, glass-like bodies, Naruto felt his clones vanish as they fell to the monsters in a grizzly scene right out of the Triassic. The leaf-ninja's blue eyes flashed, trying to keep track of the ones that were left which, unfortunately, were most of them.

Before he even had a clue what to do next a number of them charged only to be ripped apart by a whirling tornadic wind that froze as well as tore, littering the landscape with chunks and shards of broken ice.

Chilled down to the bone and with his ears popping from the pressure change, Naruto spun and saw the battered and bloodied Haku on one knee, hand extended into a seal. Grabbing hold of him, the genin half-carried the young constable into the scant shelter provided by the icy wreckage - two serpent heads and midsections all twisted and fused together, just as the rest of the water-dragons attacked.

"Haku!" Naruto urged as the monsters closed in at which Haku stirred, gathered himself and, with a grunt of effort, destroyed the rest with his winds. A glacier-mass of twisting, draconic bodies tumbled toward the two, clattering to a stop just a few feet away.

That's when Naruto noticed how badly hurt Haku really was – with deep gashes at his upper arm and thigh. All were bleeding despite Haku's efforts to seal them shut with chakra and body-control techniques.

_What the hell happened!_ the leaf-ninja asked himself. _Everything was going great and then -!_

The blond frowned under his mask. "Sh-t!" Naruto hissed but felt a little better as he could see that Haku was thinking.

"These shinobi we're up against are jonin-level – two distance types and the swordswoman; we can't keep fighting them," reported the constable with respectable calm.

Naruto nodded, his blue eyes wide beneath his ANBU mask. "Yeah? Tell me something I DON'T know!"

"A snowstorm," said Haku, his own masked face rising toward Naruto's. "They might not expect that. It could give us cover to escape."

Naruto grunted affirmatively then added, "HEY! That kunoichi, do you know her? 'Cause she sure knows you."

Haku nodded soberly. "Her name is Yashako. She is one of the Seven Legendary Swordsmen."

Zabuza's student brought his hands together in a seal and mustered his concentration while Naruto did the same, fighting off the daunting effect of Haku's revelation about their adversary.

The sky, already leaden, went darker still as jutsu-conjured snow began to fall and chunks of hail rained down over the piazza, blown back and forth in a wild, driving wind. At the same time a vast army of blond shadow-clones appeared, surrounding the two in a protective cordon ten ranks deep.

Despite all of it, a thin ribbon of water shot past, slicing effortlessly through ice and shadow-clones alike. Naruto shouted and dropped down having been nicked by the tail end of its passage while Haku crouched lower and covered up from the spray of angry fragments. More ribbons shot past, cutting the two ninja's ice fortress and crowd of shadow clones down almost to nothing in mere moments.

"Naruto! Get out of here; run for it! Follow the plan!" shouted Haku urgently as water rushed under them, spreading over the pavement in a thin, mirror sheet.

"Not a chance, Haku!" the leaf-ninja roared back. "We're BOTH gettin' out of here!"

From the arriving waters' unnaturally smooth surface sprang Yashako, the same tattooed shinobi from before. In a fluid movement too graceful for most to appreciate as it was too quick and elusive to follow, the ninja coiled back a broadsword then lashed at Haku's neck.

The teenager threw himself to the side and ducked his head as the onrushing blade passed over him, stinging his ear and slicing stands of his hair. Desperately, Haku wriggled away as quickly as he could while defending against the swordswoman with kicks and blocking with bundled senbon clutched in either hand.

"I'll be damned," remarked Yashako, pressing her advantage. "That IS you!"

In an orange blur Naruto leaped past Haku to head the mist-ninja off, engaging her with drawn kunai. The genin, snarling savagely, managed to deflect her blades for a second before he was sent flying back, eyes wide and with a gory 'X' slashed across his chest.

Even as the shock and horrid sensation flooded him – the sharp, excruciating pain, the nauseating looseness of his parted skin, and the hot wash of vivid red gushing down the front of his body, almost as bad as that burned the realization that this enemy had defeated him so easily, with barely an effort.

_All the training I've done…_the young ninja's miserable thoughts echoed as time crept to halt. _All the tough opponents I've beaten and I'm still -, _Naruto's mind rebelled with protective silence, reluctant to finish the tortuous thought: _**helpless**__…even when my friends need me the most!_

As Naruto stumbled back then fell, Haku scrambled awkwardly to his feet, ready to protect his fallen partner but was still horribly overmatched. The Demon's Apprentice's senbon, to this foe, flew glacially slow; his tai-jutsu lagged clumsy and amateurish. Yashako sliced through the young constable's water-clones and ice shields faster than he could summon them with barely a pause until the black-haired teenager was again set on his back with the point of the kunoichi's sword leveled into the hollow of this throat.

A single, practiced swat with the flat of her other blade dashed the ANBU mask from the slender teenager's face and sent it clattering over the Mist Village pavement.

"So this is what it's come to, huh, Haku?" the jonin accused. "Zabuza couldn't take over the Mist Village so you've come back to destroy it. I guess that figures. Sour grapes plus you got a blood-gift too and all you guys stick together – blood's thicker than water, something like that, right?"

Naruto, huddled on his knees and with palsied arms clutched over his bleeding chest, looked up at the scene unfolding before him in horror. "Stop!" he roared at Yashako, head pounding with emotion; his fury welling, "don't do it!"

The woman grinned grimly as the muscles tensed down the length of her arm.

"Say 'hi' to Zabuza in hell for me...'Demon's Apprentice'," she hissed then thrust but her arm didn't move.

A started Yashako scowled in contempt at Naruto, who'd suddenly appeared right in front of her. The woman's eyes dropped, inspecting the blond boy's fingers as they dug hard into her ropey forearm then his gruesome wound which seemed to be slowly creeping shut.

Haku looked up at his rescuer, his bruised face paling. "Naruto, no!"

"You're quicker than I thought. Nice grip you got there too," the mist-kunoichi allowed in a voice pregnant with malice, "pretty strong chakra. I'm impressed." Yashako slashed with her other sword, a single, perfect stroke that would have decapitated a monument as well as the leaf-ninja had Naruto not ducked, and with such speed that it was hard to tell that he had moved at all.

Undaunted, Yashako's arm coiled back fluidly and smashed the genin squarely in the middle of his facemask with the pommel. Where the woman very clearly expected the ninja's head to snap back from the impact with the body falling limply to the ground either dead or comatose, the figure moved not an inch, surprising her yet again.

"Who ARE you?" she demanded imperiously as the ninja's ANBU mask, spider-webbed with cracks, slowly came apart; the pieces falling one-by-one from his face.

The smaller ninja glared back though the jigsaw-puzzle with frightening, defiant eyes burning lava red, black streaks like whiskers drawing back over his transforming face, taut lips pulling over fierce, jutting fangs.

"WHO ARE YOU?" Yashako cried once more, her voice rising to a crackling shriek as the leaf-ninja's chakra, thick, elemental and sinister, filled the air with tendrils of vaporous red.

* * *

_Thanks for reading! -Jonohex_

_OH...forgot to say, the greatest countries in the world this time (in order) are: USA, CANADA (yay! Welcome back! ;), and...Sweden!_

_* Footnote: Naruto is paraphrasing Sun Tzu from the Art of War: "A sovereign cannot raise an army because he is enraged, nor can a general fight because he is resentful. For while an angered man may again be happy, and a resentful man again be pleased, a state that has perished cannot be restored, nor can the dead be brought back to life."_


	21. The Jinchuuriki's Mandate Part 4

**Haku**

The moment, unique in its way even among the many harrowing ones Haku'd had over his fifteen years, seemed frozen in time – a theatrical tableau rendered in real life, or like some souvenir-store curio with its tiny figures suspended forever in a bubble of water-filled glass. Look! There're even snowflakes.

The young ninja stared not, as one might expect, upon the gleaming length of slick, razor-sharp Kirigakure steel poised at his neck or even on the wrathful, whorl-tattooed face of its owner. Instead, Haku's grey eyes remained locked on the hunched shape of his blond savior whose clawed fingers gripped hard into the swordswoman, Yashako's muscular forearm.

_Naruto,_ he wanted to call out to his friend.

But it wasn't _just _Naruto anymore. Just like before, like from the first Battle at the Bridge, the Demon's Apprentice could feel the terrible energy of the Nine-Tailed Fox welling from the boy, bubbling like an embolism in reality's flesh.

Yashako's angry expression seethed. "Who are you?" she railed at the transformed Naruto whose snarling face, veiled behind rippling waves of sinister chakra, was now as much demon as human.

As if to answer, the possessed ninja yanked Yashako off her feet with such force that both swords flew from the jonin's grasp, swung her high through the air then brought her crashing down. The Icy forms Haku and Naruto had briefly sheltered behind exploded into fragments from the impact, the cobblestones beneath them cracking like glass. Without so much as a pause Naruto whirled and flung the kunoichi with divine strength, sending her sailing though the misty air far past the glorious fountains of the Mist Village's Piazza del Carne'.

An astonished Haku gawked at the sheer spectacle of the blond ninja's power…then grimaced. Though immensely grateful for the rescue he couldn't help but be troubled at this turn of events: their ambush at the hands of the Mist's ANBU, Lord Tsujita's death and, now, the Kyuubi's manifestation.

The teenager's instincts, honed by eight years tutelage under Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist, whispered that their perils were only just beginning.

* * *

**Mist Ninjas – Part I**

The shinobi's jaw went slack with shocked disbelief as his teammate, Yashako's contorted body shot overhead, and he turned to watch in time to see the kunoichi hit then bounce jerkily over the pavement.

In all the years Yamada had known her, NOTHING like this had ever happened before…nothing even _close_. Up until now, the jonin would have thought it quite impossible for anyone to beat the Legendary Swordswoman with such contemptuous ease. Yet there it was.

The man frowned. His light-colored but intense eyes darted back to his targets – the two surviving infiltrators. Since Yashako had smashed the tiny, blond one's fake ANBU mask, Yamada could see the bestial face of a fierce-looking boy standing there, glaring back, a grizzly 'X'- shaped wound slashed across his chest, the flayed scraps of his blood-soaked mist-ninja uniform flapping wide open. Where such a hideous mutilation would have left anyone else lying in agony, incapacitated as they bled to death, this one stood defiantly heedless of it, enshrouded by a coruscant halo of angry, otherworldly energy.

Yamada's jaw tightened. It made sense that any team sent to destroy Kirigakure no Sato would possess powers like this.

The mist-ninja put his hands together in a seal at which the waters flowing in the fountain beside him obediently rose to his will, coiling like vipers.

"It doesn't matter how strong your chakra is," the man hissed in grim anticipation, "my Arhat Sash Jutsu will slice right through you."

The ninja unleashed his spell but at the last moment, sensing something, pivoted to redirect the serpentine waters sharply to his right where they lashed to pieces the Tsujita Lord's bodyguard who was almost on top of him, having reappeared as if from the ether.

"Trying to sneak up on me, eh? Bad idea," Yamada commented snidely through the camouflage cloth that masked the lower regions of his face, noting as he thought back: "But didn't I kill you already?"

To the jonin's shock though, the man didn't fall. Instead, his bloodless, severed limbs and all the sections of his body pulled back together, leaving him seamed but whole once more.

"What the -."

The bodyguard flickered, reappearing right before Yamada who countered with equal speed.

The ninja's hands flew through a series of seals. "Water Prison Technique," he hissed and extended his palms.

The fountain's reservoir bubbled then leaped at the dead ninja lord's protector, incasing him in a watery sphere. Before Yamada could even grin in satisfaction though the liquid prison gave way, turning back into lifeless water, and splashed apart.

"My chakra! How did you -?" the ninja blurted in spite of himself while the bodyguard lunged, seizing the surprised shinobi by the forehead.

Taken by surprise, the jonin nevertheless counterattacked instinctively with a fluid, winding movement of his arm, snaring his assailant with a monofilament wire, then synched back hard.

The bodyguard's flesh and bones split as the razor-sharp, almost invisible strand bit though his arm and neck but without effect, not even to raise a grimace on the man's pitiless face.

Realizing his mistake, the last thought to pass through Yamada's mind before the bodyguard's hand snapped shut with the power of an industrial vice was how foolish it had been to use a weapon so similar in effect to a jutsu that had already proved useless.

* * *

**Mist Ninjas – Part II**

Koushiro was not the most sentimental ninja in Kirigakure no Sato, or one especially prone to panic. Yet the truly surreal sight of his teammate Yashako, one of the Seven Legendary Swordsmen, flung aside like a discarded wrapper while Yamada's brains and skull squished out through another enemy's fingers barely a moment later left him utterly at a loss.

A surge of pride begged the ninja to take revenge on these invaders, these blood-cursed enemies of the Mist Village, for himself but common sense stayed him. Failing, as he and his team had already, was unacceptable enough especially considering that they were ANBU elites. To fail AND allow these infiltrators to escape would be infinitely worse.

Pride got shoved to the back burner.

Shaking his head, the veteran muttered a viscous litany of curses, drew a flare tube then directed it skyward.

* * *

**Haku**

By now, Haku was almost past the point of disbelief. What had begun as a secret mission concluding, so he'd thought, with miraculous success was spiraling into catastrophe.

Yes, Naruto had defeated Yashako. And Hideo had risen, seemingly from the dead, to destroy her partner. But that didn't change the fact that they were in the middle of Kirigakure – a poor place to attract attention.

As if to prove Haku's point, an unseen ninja's distress flare shrieked suddenly from a rooftop beyond the canal, burning in blinding-bright, magnesium anger as it rocketed skyward. The young constable watched in knowing trepidation as it rose, sparkling against the gloom, until it reached its apex then settled into a maddeningly-slow, dandelion-seed descent.

It took only instants for reinforcements to appear: an army of mist-ninjas that gathered in a grey, silent plague over the Piazza del Carne's cobblestones and adjacent rooftops.

Frowning tensely under the daunting glare of what felt like a thousand vengeful stares while the air crackled with the quiet hisses of a thousand swords being unsheathed, the constable blew out a breath and tried to remember the last time he'd been in a spot as bad as this and, more to the point, what he'd done to extricate himself from it. During his eight years as Zabuza's disciple and even the year and a half or so that followed, there MUST have been _something,_ right?

But as scores upon scores of shinobi poured down from the surrounding buildings and in from the Mist Village's web-work of streets, the first wave swarming to attack with swords and kunai brandished, nothing really came to mind.

* * *

**Team Konohamaru**

It was dark and stiflingly warm inside the painted refrigerator box of Team Konohamaru's 'blind' where Udon squinted though the screen, down a couple of buildings away at the door to Naruto's apartment with a renewed sense of mission.

Movement drew his attention.

Wiping his brow, the cadet took up his binoculars and focused hard at the young, raven-haired figure who'd just scrambled up the stairs and down the outdoor hallway to Naruto's door, noting the pale skin, crest of black hair and finally the unmistakable emblem of a white and red fan clear as day on back of the newcomer's high-collared, midnight-blue shirt.

Staring hard now, Udon watched in disbelief as the genin fumbled clumsily for keys with a look of wild panic on his face but even with such an uncharacteristic expression, there was no mistaking _those_ unforgettable, ebon eyes.

Finally, the young ninja slotted the key home then scrambled inside, slamming the door behind him.

From inside his concealment, Udon lowered the binoculars slowly from his astonished face. He mopped his forehead and blinked. After a minute or so the boy wiped his perpetually dripping nose and was finally able to say what his mind was still in the process of grasping: "That…that was Sasuke Uchiha!"

* * *

Earlier that day, bathed in the glory of the morning light, Udon pushed up his glasses and rubbed bleary eyes as he approached the rooftop 'blind'. Covering his mouth as he yawned, the boy took a bracing breath then pried open the access panel.

"Konohamaru?" he mumbled in tired surprise at finding his friend and teammate already inside with arms folded and a sour look on his face. "You ok?" Udon offered then folded himself up and squatted in beside him.

The spiky-haired boy's eyes pinched shut in sheer frustration. "I was so SURE we'd find out what Naruto was up to by now."

Udon dabbed self-consciously at his leaking nose with a handkerchief, lamenting once again how he was the only kid in the world who carried one let alone NEEDED one.

"Well," he squeaked, "it's only been a couple of days. Maybe it's going to take a little more time. Maybe," he ventured VERY cautiously, "he isn't up to anything at all and he's just sick like he said he was."

"NO," Konohamaru insisted immediately with a vigorous, dismissive shake of his head. "He's up to something and keeping it from us. I just know it."

"Yeah, but HOW do you know?"

"I just DO," the ten-year old grunted, his eyes still fixed on Naruto's door as he raised his forefinger sagely. "A ninja's got to trust his instincts."

Udon rolled his eyes at his friend's presumption of superiority. Yes, Konohamaru was from the Sarutobi clan and his late grandpa had been the Third Hokage…AND his uncle was a big-shot jonin AND Ibisu-sensei was his special tutor. But he could still lay it on awfully thick sometimes for a kid who still got it wrong as often as right.

"I guess," grumbled Udon, "we'll just have to wait and see if anything -."

Konohamaru's eyes popped wide and he flailed for his teammate's arm. "LOOK!" he crowed, pointed and the two boys knocked heads as they fought for the binoculars. Konohamaru wrestled them away then tweaked the focus while Udon peeked past him.

Naruto's door, an unexpectedly mysterious portal, had opened just a little then shut again. A moment later, a strange, black-haired kid peeked out before stepping fully into view.

"Who's that?" Udon whispered.

"Dunno, never seen him before."

The kid, kind of a skinny, unremarkable-looking nine or ten year-old but wearing teal overalls over a long-sleeved white turtleneck, looked around anxiously then set a floppy white hat on his head before skipping off.

Konohamaru dropped his binoculars, frowned then turned to Udon and remarked critically: "_Teal _overalls?" The cadet shook his head. "Who wears TEAL overalls?"

Under his round glasses Udon blinked, determined not to stare at his leader's trademark super-long, blue scarf then gave a vague sort-of shrug.

Quick as a cat, Konohamaru unfolded himself and was out the door, aforementioned scarf trailing behind. "Stay here and watch if anything happens. I'm gonna go follow that kid." The gapped smile on the Sarutobi's face was fierce and satisfied. "See, I told ya'!" he crowed as he adjusted his goggles. "Something IS going on, and we're about to find out for sure!"

* * *

**Haku**

Naruto, possessed as he was by a force more terrible than anyone could imagine, seemed unimpressed as he waited for then met the mist-ninjas' assault and turned it back with a maelstrom of savage power and terrifying, supernatural speed.

Haku could only take cover, war exploding all around him, as his teenaged friend routed an army, littering the streets with groaning wounded, broken or abandoned weapons and shredded uniforms.

Kirigakure retreated, regrouped then countered immediately with jutsu: enormous creatures of water and chakra; rushing waves and vortexes; acidic mists and lethal vapors.

In the few spare moments that Haku dared to peek out from his ramshackle barricades of ice, he watched helplessly as his friend was battered by oceanic fury, crushed by monsters and all but slain in a dozen horrifying ways. But no matter the damage Naruto sustained or the suffering inflicted upon him, the tattered, yellow-haired boy rose up from the wreckage again and again, more powerful than before.

The first time, the fiery glow of the Nine-Tails' energy that surrounded him flared even brighter then sprouted an undulant, whipping tail. The second time: two tails, and the next, three.

At the dawn of the genin's four-tailed incarnation, Haku couldn't tell that it was still Naruto at all. The genin's chakra-distorted body couldn't even be seen anymore beneath a glaring, engulfing, fox-like shape. The Kyuubi itself was starting to take form!

Even Haku didn't dare approach.

With an ear-splitting roar the monster vomited a bolt of blinding light that sent swarms of ninjas scattering as it flashed overhead, melting what was left of the plaza's fine statuary and punching a hole clean through the middle stories of an already-ruined tenement building on its way into the distance.

_Heaven and Earth! _thought Haku aghast as he took stock of the staggering pace of the escalation and looked out in awe over the now cratered battleground – a broken landscape of cracked, pitted and flooded buildings - not wanting to think about what would happen if Naruto and his demonic inhabitant were pushed any further.

_He'll destroy the city I came to save,_ he concluded grimly, _IF Kirigakure's own shinobi don't beat him to it._

Thinking back to his fight with Naruto at the first battle at the bridge, then from the genin's own sketchy descriptions, Haku'd _imagined_ he had some idea about the Kyuubi's nature and the depths of its powers…but he'd been wrong. Even as it was now, at a fraction of its true strength, the Nine-Tails loomed, almost hypnotic in its destructive majesty like storm clouds, a crashing tidal-wave or erupting volcano.

Haku's hand rose to his spellbound face. Just seeing it, it was impossible not to feel dwarfed – insignificant in its presence.

A volley of shuriken and kunai whistled past the constable's head, forcing him to redirect his attention to more immediate concerns as two full squads of mist-shinobi broke away to attack him.

_Well,_ he acknowledged, _at least my uniform bought me some time._

Haku sprang to meet them, entering battle and, with it, a marvelous state of Zen where the world moved slowly and all his adversaries' tiny, vulnerable targets seemed large as billboards for his senbon.

There were a lot of ways for a human being to reach this remarkable place: through meditation; sitting in postures or running long distances, but Haku only ever found this sort of transcendent clarity when in battle. It was a trait his ancestors had, doubtlessly, bred into his bloodline and was the only thing that seemed to explain how calm and fluid he could remain even in the face of the direst peril.

Even against the worst of the Kiri-ninjas' jutsu, Haku knew how he would survive - using the elemental powers of his kekkei-genkai to freeze their waters or blow away their mists. All he had to do was let his chakra flow, trust his instincts, his blood-gift and ignore the fact that even the tiniest slip meant annihilation.

Unexpected help arrived in the form of Hideo who simply appeared and joined in. Haku wasn't at all sure how Lord Tsujita's bodyguard had survived the ANBU's initial assault, but he wasn't in any position to question. He had his answers soon enough anyway as it became clear that Hideo harbored his own formidable powers. Though the bodyguard's movements were depressingly artless, the man possessed a titan's strength and seemed entirely beyond harm.

Still, despite how well things were going (considering the circumstances) there was no escaping the facts that they were still surrounded, vastly outnumbered, and it wasn't going to take the mist-ninja long to adjust their strategy. At present, they were getting in each others' way a lot of the time, being more used to coordination at the squad level than in brigade strength, but that wouldn't last.

_Of course,_ Haku pondered, _if they continue this foolish test of wills with the Nine-Tailed Fox until it's FULLY unleashed then there's no telling what could happen._

As one, the unending onslaught of mist-ninja withdrew to reset and to give their enemies a good look at the truly daunting array of the forces aligned against them.

Obligingly, Haku scanned the rooftops and along the edges of the Piazza. He'd never seen so many ninjas at one time in one place before which, with his experience, said a lot.

Frowning, the Demon's Apprentice glanced toward his quiet, unexpected partner, Hideo, who was diligently plucking the shuriken and kunai from his flesh. The young ninja noted at once that there was no blood, and that the bodyguard's countless wounds were already sealing up.

Finally, Haku looked back toward the other battlefront and the possessed Naruto: a creature of fire and shadows who crouched on all-fours, snarling, feral and furious with those four tails thrashing as he awaited Kirigakure's next attack.

_In his present state,_ the black-haired teenager considered, _he might even be looking forward to it._

_Oh, Naruto,_ thought Haku in a biting, aching sorrow knowing that, in the beast's eyes, heart and world there were only enemies. Certainly, the Nine-Tailed Fox could and would destroy _him_ without even a thought.

Seeing his normally enthusiastic and light-hearted friend reduced to this…this _thing_ was beyond bearing. _I'm so sorry for this. I should never, NEVER have brought you here._

Zabuza's student thought hard for some kind, any kind, of inspiration, any way that he could end this or, at least, save his partner if not himself.

_We have to get out of here, fast!_ he grumbled inwardly and in mounting frustration. _That's the only way!_

But there was nothing about the possessed Naruto or the Nine-tailed Fox that seemed the least bit likely to accept the concepts of stealth, misdirection or retreat. He and IT were going to stay and fight until death…or until every one and every thing had been destroyed.

As bad as it was, the young constable's grey eyes rose then with even greater alarm as he felt something approach. Even through the wall of energies that swirled around them, chakra blazing from hundreds of angry mist-ninjas and even more fiercely from the Nine-Tailed Fox, Haku could feel this – a sinister power he'd hoped never to encounter again.

The constable's heart sank.

He hadn't thought it possible, but things really were about to get worse.

* * *

**Inari**

Inari stepped out onto the awaiting Leaf Village Streets with a gleeful smile broad and bright on his eager, young face. Finally, it was HIS turn to get out and see the place. Konoha's buildings, all so unselfconsciously ramshackle and wonderfully unapologetic with their architectural caprice, seemed to rise up with the aura of delicious mystery in the ten-year old's dark eyes like a storybook landscape. Even though it was still morning, Konoha thronged with people – all mysteries too, in their own ways.

"No wonder Chuuya took so long," Inari said to himself, high with notions of adventure. "This place is amazing!"

His own Land of Waves was quite a bit like the Leaf Village now but still harbored a dark side that made the boy, and anyone with any sense who lived there, a little wary. Though the Lady Magistrate Orimi Hirai, Haku and the rest of his mist-ninja constabulary had crushed out the worst of the criminal elements, Wave Country was still a port city and highly attractive to vagabonds, smugglers and criminals of every stripe.

That it was better by FAR than it had ever been under Gato was sure, but people did still get killed, robbed or go missing. Even with all that aside, there was no escaping the fact that the place was a protectorate of the neighboring Land of Water and controlled by mist-ninja. And although they were pretty well-behaved for now, no one with any memory could be completely sure that their guardians wouldn't revert back one day to the monsters history had shown they could be.

Freed from those uncertainties, the Wave Country boy felt completely at ease here; and almost like the Hidden Leaf Village was a second home from the glowing, sentimental way Naruto had gone on about the place.

Taking his partner's advice, Inari too visited Senju Park, wandered around the immaculate precincts of the noble Hyuuga Clan then the desolate and abandoned Uchiha District. He gazed up in wonder at the cliff-side monument to the four Hokages then went to check out the 'competition' at the Leaf Village's ninja academy.

_They don't look so tough,_ the visitor surmised bluntly as he scrutinized the leaf-cadets through the chain-link that wrapped the grounds. _But,_ he sighed as he had to admit,_ I guess, neither do I._

Tazuna's grandson was terribly proud of everything he'd learned under Haku-sensei and couldn't imagine anyone training harder under a better teacher.

_But then too_, Inari couldn't help but recall, _Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura all trained really, really hard, even when they were on a mission…and KAKASHI was THEIR sensei._

The thought put the boy in his place. He'd come a long way, but still had a really, really long way to go.

_I probably lucked out getting Haku-sensei to train me,_ the thought nagged at him. _A lot of those kids come from big-time ninja clans. I don't know if I'd even make it in here!_

Inari frowned at first but didn't remain subdued for long. There was just too much to see and he'd never been away from home before. So he continued his tour - looking through the glass at the Yamanaka Flower Shop, using some of his walking-around money to buy lunch at Ichiraku before heading further into the market district.

Strolling leisurely up and down the Leaf Village streets, Inari gawked like a tourist, his floppy-hatted head turning toward anyone and anything that caught his roving eyes until he slowed and blinked at a sight he thought especially odd - a length of deep-blue fabric that laid across the sidewalk in front of him, with the rest of it disappearing into an alleyway.

_What the heck is THAT?_ he wondered.

As the Wave Country boy watched, the fabric slithered from sight like the trailing end of a spaghetti strand being sucked in. A grin rose over Inari's face. The boy raced to see what it was but when he reached the alleyway and peeked down it found nothing there but darkness and dumpsters.

"Huh. Weird," the boy muttered, walked on then stopped dead.

Coming up the street, not half a block away was Rock Lee still in his unmistakable, skin-tight green. Through a scattering of Konoha's citizens, the leaf-ninja's wide, round eyes caught sight of Inari and flickered with tentative recognition.

"CRAP!" the boy piped then ducked into the alley.

_Shit-shit-shit,_ he cursed himself, quivering anxiously with his back pressed against the wall. _This is bad so bad really really really really bad! Rock Lee knows me knows who I am where I'm from that I'm not supposed to be here GOD I'm so stupid, he KNOWS me, Sakura too and Kakashi what the hell was I THINKING just walking around?_

He could just imagine what would happen if Rock Lee discovered him.

The genin was a good guy, kinda strange, kinda funny looking with those bushy black eyebrows and shiny, bowl-cut hair…but a good guy. Lee wouldn't hurt him at all but he'd certainly have some questions Inari didn't want to answer.

Furiously, the Wave Country boy's mind searched for a way out.

_Oh, yeah!_ the idea hit him. _Jutsu!_

Putting his fingers together in a seal, the ten-year old summoned his chakra. When he strutted out from the alley, Inari was transformed.

"Lee," he greeted the leaf-ninja causualy then went on his way, though that dumbstruck look on the tall teenager's face wasn't quite what he'd expected.

Caught up in his own sense of cool as he looked back at the emerald ninja, Inari bumped shoulders with another genin and, although he was the one who stumbled, the boy offered his apologies.

"Oh! Sorry, 'didn't see you," Inari said then couldn't help but stare.

The young ninja he'd just run into was probably the stockiest person Inari had even seen, with a wide, round belly, round face and a bush of brown hair parted down the middle by his hitai-ate.

"Sorry?" the older, much larger boy parroted hotly, his pudgy, spiral-tattooed cheeks growing red. "SORRY?"

The disguised Inari backed away fearfully as the angry ninja advanced on him. As he watched, wide-eyed, the chubby ninja's trembling fists swelled at first then ballooned to the size of watermelons!

**"You mean,"** he bellowed, **"'cause I almost got KILLED trying to get you back?"**

Inari half-ducked, half-fell out of the way just as the genin's wild, roundhouse punch arced over him, smashing a chunk out of the adjacent building's brick.

_Oh, NO! This guy's CRAZY!_

"Chouji! What the hell are you doing?" a cool, confident voice admonished sternly, at which Inari blinked, shook debris from his back then slowly came up from a crouch to look.

Standing now next to the fat one was another leaf-ninja, a taller, slimmer boy whose black hair was tied up in a flowery top-knot. But as soon as the genin laid eyes on Inari he startled, frowned then formed a chakra seal at which the shadows all around the Wave Country boy sprang to life and leaped at him in flagellant, inky tentacles!

Panic-stricken, Inari scurried out of their reach then fled for his life, like he'd never run before – cutting through alleys, darting around people, vaulting over trash cans and diving under produce carts. He'd been chased before, by bullies, a wild dog once and worse – by Chuuya after he'd gotten him really, really mad. But this time it was NINJAS who were FURIOUS at him for some reason and there was no telling what they'd do if they caught him!

Shadows licked at his ankles, clawed at him from the walls. And 'Chouji', though fat, was not at all slow and pounced tiger-like at the boy, trying his hardest to squash him with those giant, barrel fists!

Finally, with his legs and lungs burning, his heart pounding like a jackhammer in his chest, Inari threaded the needle with a deftness born of desperation through an especially crowded clot of bystanders who were far too surprised to get out of his pursuers' way.

Shrieks and shouts erupted; bodies flew like bowling pins as an out-of-control Chouji plowed into them.

* * *

Having lost the two leaf-ninjas in the confusion, Inari ran the most erratic and convoluted path possible back to Naruto's apartment just in case he hadn't (he remembered that tactic from some crime drama he'd read), dropped the keys like three times before finally opening the door and stumbling inside.

"Inari, is that YOU?" gasped Chuuya who looked up in surprise at his partner's disguised form and wild entrance.

Inari dropped his jutsu with a gush of dispersing chakra then fell back against the door, heaving for breath with sweat streaming down his young face.

Chuuya raced to his side, pudgy cheeks flushed with emotion. "What happened?"

"Chuuya! I messed up!" Inari stammered fretfully, almost in tears. "I really messed up! I went out there doing all the stuff you did but I ran into ROCK LEE, remember him, that green guy we met before, so I used my Transformation Jutsu thinking I could just bluff my way past him but then this big fat ninja attacked me!"

"A…a fat ninja?" Chuuya's face dropped to his own bulging tummy.

"NO, not like YOU," explained Inari heatedly then opened his arms as wide as they would go, "I mean he was ROUND!"

"What? Completely round?"

"Uh-huh! And then his friend sicced all these shadows on me. The shadows were actually chasing me and trying to grab me and stuff!"

"Wow…just…WOW!" Chuuya offered in amazement, flopped down then ventured: "Well maybe…maybe whoever that was you turned into pissed 'em off; owed 'em some money or something."

Inari stared at his teammate, went white then dropped his head into his hands. "Agh! I'm so STUPID!" he moaned. "Naruto SAID Sasuke left the village; why did I turn into Sasuke?"

Chuuya's face quivered as a maddening smile came over it.

"What?" barked Inari. "It's NOT funny!"

"Yeah, it kinda is."

"No it's NOT!"

"Uh-HUH!" Chuuya assured him, his dark eyes twinkling.

Inari gave him a hard, angry swat at which his heftier, heavier partner winced and fell back, hooting with laughter the whole way.

"Come ON, Inari," his teammate prevailed merrily. "It's cool that you GOT AWAY isn't it? I mean, you escaped from real live shinobi from the Village Hidden in the Leaves! That's freakin' AMAZING!"

The boy blinked then brightened. He hadn't thought about it like that.

"See?" Chuuya prodded then offered in a ridiculous accent, "you ah SUPAH NEEN-JA! I feah youh skills!"

Though still doubtful, Inari couldn't stay mad. His sweaty, exhausted face broke into a smile as he joined his partner and started laughing too.

Caught up in each other's infectious mirth, the two ninja-boys were still laughing like lunatics when a knock came at door.

* * *

**Kyuubi**

Naruto's half-demonic form glared through a roaring storm of red chakra at the herds of enemy prey who were bowed but unbeaten…for now. Primordial instincts backed by limitless, elemental power demanded that they _attack_ rather than hold back; KILL rather than subdue. Though toying with the weak ones thrilled, their appetite was already whetted beyond bearing! That there was still so much left unbroken in this unnatural place built by men offended. Its very _existence_ offended, goading the Nine-Tail's hellish energies toward further destruction.

His/its hungry, vulpine face rose as they scented something in the wind. The familiar and deeply loved intoxications of fear and blood were being spoiled by the foul essence of a loathsome chakra despised by the deeper memories of the Nine-Tailed Fox.

The hybrid Naruto/Nine-Tails growled their displeasure - a sound that rattled between ruined buildings and up to the cloud-laden sky. The first line of mist-ninja faltered and drew back a step, all but a bruised and battered Yashako who bullied her way to the front.

The half-demon's lips peeled with resentment at her still being alive but it was something else that drew their concern – and it was coming closer.

A chilling snarl gushed past their fang-filled mouth as the strange chakra continued its approach through the ranks of shinobi who scattered before it like so many startled grasshoppers.

Yashako turned to look, gaped with indignation then started shouting. She was shouting still as those ninjas standing in front who'd failed to withdraw quickly enough fell limply and lifelessly to the ground, revealing a giant of a man.

The Nine-Tails knew at once that this was no man, or anything like one.

"What the FUCK, Krisheney!" bellowed Yashako with flecks of foam spilling from her lips as she gestured at her fallen brethren. "HEY! These are our own guys!"

The monster ignored the jonin, staring instead at Naruto, through Naruto and the Kyuubi's staggering power, with eyes of black oblivion. Krisheney's frightening, mustachioed face, dark skinned and covered with pock marks, rippled with millipede movement as it smiled then erupted with a gush of thunderous, inhuman laughter.

At that moment, Naruto, suddenly himself once more, seized with a burning, unyielding surge of crippling electric pain that seared every particle of his being, but it was not from anything the horrific mist-ninja had done. The Kyuubi, the Nine-Tailed Fox had just flung itself with all the pent up fury it could summon against the walls of its prison, against the seal that held it captive inside him.

The Fox's chakra, raging like fire around Naruto in a rippling cloak that took on its multi-tailed shape, sputtered then went out as the complex powers of the seal reasserted itself in reaction. The young ninja toppled then convulsed on the pavement in agonies undreamt of, worse by orders of magnitude than any ever before visited upon him.

The Kyuubi, whatever its intent, and for all its vast power and transcendent rage had just crippled Naruto and crippled itself, leaving both defenseless as the cyclopean mist-ninja paced ponderously towards them over the cobblestones.

* * *

**Inari**

Chuuya and Inari froze dead. Their black-haired heads shot toward the door, eyes wide, mouths agape.

"Shit!" hissed Chuuya in a distressed whisper as he swung his fist through the air. "They must've followed you!"

Inari paled. "No," he muttered shrilly and shook his head, trying desperately to convince himself. "I lost 'em. I KNOW I lost 'em!"

The knock sounded again, louder this time.

"Whadowedo?" they babbled in synch before Chuuya took a deep breath then straightened as a militant scowl settled over his face.

"Alright…if it's a fight they want," he announced, "let's give 'em one! Anyone coming through that door's gonna EAT Cannon Fist!

"Chuuya," Inari cautioned and waved his hands, knowing very well that his partner's talk wasn't just bluster.

Over the months they'd trained together, he'd seen Chuuya graduate from punching through stacked boards, to bricks, to concrete blocks, to thick ice and even solid rock! After one particular demonstration where the youngest Tezuka brother left a sizable, bowl-shaped dent in thick, plate steel, an impressed Haku had admitted half-jestingly that he'd 'created a monster'.

"Chuuya, we can't fight those guys," Inari prevailed nevertheless. Tough as Chuuya was for a little kid, the bridge-builder's grandson really didn't think much of his teammate's chances against _real_ shinobi. Either way, he sure didn't want anyone to get hurt!

"Please," he continued in a calming, begging tone, "let me try the Transformation Jutsu one more time."

The bigger boy's dark eyes narrowed with the innate, reflexive stubbornness his partner knew only too well. After a moment however, much to Inari's relief, he let out a breath then marched off to hide in the cabinet under the sink.

"Ok," Chuuya allowed before he shut the doors, "but I'll be watching and listening the whole time!"

Left alone in the room, Inari sighed and gathered himself then again entwined his fingers into a seal. "Transform," the ten-year old muttered worriedly as he spent the last of his reserves.

Turning toward the door as a poor, sick, pajama-and-nightcap-wearing Naruto, the boy got himself into character, carefully undid the latch then opened it, dreading the thought of who or what he might find waiting there.

"Sakura!" he piped in relieved, delighted surprise as the pretty, pink-haired kunoichi smiled a greeting at him.

That it was her and not some big-fat-angry-round ninja who wanted to smash him into bloody jambalaya while his creepy friend smothered him in shadows was enough to make Inari wobble and feel a little faint for real.

"Hi, Naruto," the girl offered with weary cheerfulness then followed the disguised Inari inside. "I wanted to stop by earlier and see how you were doing but Lady Tsunade's been keeping me SO busy and well, you know how it is."

Naruto bobbed his head giddily, obligingly, gratefully. "Sure, no problem."

The boy marveled at how much the kunoichi had changed, with the shorter hair and everything, yet how much she still seemed the same.

Long moments passed while Inari thought about dropping his jutsu. Sakura was a friend, a GOOD friend! He wanted desperately to say 'hi' and tell her about all the stuff that'd happened since the last time they met and catch up with what she'd been up to too just like friends should.

But, Tazuna's grandson reconsidered, that would mean having to tell her the whole story about Naruto and his mission to Kirigakure with Haku, and he couldn't be sure how she'd react to that!

_Would she keep it a secret? _the ten-year old asked himself. _Would it be fair to even ask her to?_

Sakura took a few languid steps then paused with a distracted, far-away look on her face.

"You're not going to believe this," she said at last, "but, just now, there was this HUGE mess at the markets a few blocks from here – a fight, then a long chase through the streets. You know who I heard started it," the pink-haired ninja turned toward him, giving her blond teammate a significant look, "Sasuke."

Naruto gulped. "Oh yeah?" he ventured weakly in his high, gravelly voice, not knowing what else to say.

"Well…no. I mean, it couldn't _really_ have been Sasuke, right?" the girl offered reflectively. "Like he'd just…show up again like nothing happened."

Naruto blinked, spellbound by the barely-hidden sorrow in her voice and emerald eyes. "No, I-I guess not."

Almost immediately Sakura's mood shifted, but even the boy from Wave Country could tell it was forced.

"I just ran into Shikamaru who told me all about it. He thinks it was some stupid cadet playing around with the Transformation Jutsu," the kunoichi explained softly but playfully. "He's laughing about it now but Chouji's still kinda pissed!" She giggled then, fingers rising toward her chin. "Can you imagine – 'too cool, first in his class' Sasuke Uchiha running away from those two like a scalded dog?"

Naruto scowled slightly and crossed his arms. "Yeah," he answered in a deadpan, "that's just crazy, huh?"

Sakura gave a sympathetic look over 'Naruto's' disheveled pajamas and the weary features of his face.

"So how are you doing, Naruto?" she asked, clearly concerned. "I can't remember the last time you were sick. You're always so…healthy. I guess, way TOO healthy most of the time unless you did something stupid and put yourself in the hospital."

"Oh, I'm – I'm doing ok," rasped Naruto with a sheepish smile as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sorry if I got you up. Come on," she commanded with a gesture, "let's get you back to bed. Can I get you anything?"

"No, no I'm good, thanks," the boy replied. "Well, just some water would be great. I'm really thirsty."

Making their way back to Naruto's room, Inari's eyes darted for anything incriminating or out of place but, to his relief and gratification, everything was as it should be. The 'incident' with Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi had taught Inari and Chuuya to be much more careful about picking up after themselves.

After Naruto was settled in his bed, Sakura brought him a glass of ice-water and tended to him.

"Hey, you've really got a fever going," she noted as she pressed her hand maternally yet professionally against his forehead, "and you're covered in sweat!" Sakura mulled it over then at once declared: "I'd better get you to the hospital."

"NO!" Naruto blurted and sat bolt upright, so forcefully and desperately that the pink-haired girl startled and shrank back.

"What do you mean 'no'?" she challenged, mystified. "Since when are you scared of the hospital? You practically LIVE there!"

Inari thought furiously, knowing he'd overreacted. But there was no way he'd be able to keep his disguise up all day and all night in the hospital, and wasn't sure at all how well he could fool a bunch of doctors, nurses and medical-ninja running tests and sticking needles in him and stuff.

"Uh, well," stammered Naruto as he wrung his hands, "it's just that, uh, that's just it – I'm sick of that place. Please, Sakura, just give me a couple of days. I KNOW I'll be better soon. I just need some rest, that's all."

Still a little bewildered, Sakura's expression melted before her blond patient's wide, blue-eyed plea. "Well…ok," the kunoichi relented. "But I'm gonna check back in a day or so and if you're not better I'm taking you straight to the hospital and I won't take 'no' for an answer."

"Thanks, Sakura! You're the BEST."

Sakura rendered him a tender, understanding look.

The moment made Inari feel wonderful and horrible at the same time, knowing that the heartfelt affection passing between them was, in part, rooted in the deception of his Transformation Jutsu.

"Honestly, Naruto, you are the _strangest_ boy I've ever met," said the girl, bluntly breaking the mood. "You'd almost be sweet if you weren't so stupid most of the time."

Naruto grinned, Cheshire-cat like, at which Sakura gave him a teasing shove that left him flat in the bed, his head buried in pillow with a memory of the air rushing by. _Heaven and Earth, she's strong!_

Impressive as it was, all considerations of the pink-haired girl's amazing strength were lost as Sakura took his hand in hers and buoyed him with the gentlest smile.

"Take care of yourself," she offered in farewell, "ok?"

* * *

**Haku**

"Naruto!" cried the constable the moment his friend fell.

One moment, the four-tailed incarnation of the Kyuubi, a monster of blood, fire and darkness, raged unstoppably, and the next: snuffed out, cold and extinguished like a candle in a downpour.

_No! How is it possible?_

Haku swallowed hard then looked past where the genin lay, knowing, before he'd even laid eyes on him, who it was who'd come forth out of the crowd – Krishenay Rahaman, the Mizukage's emissary.

The young constable's eyes flickered as he tried to cope with the rush of memories and all the lingering fears he'd tried to bury about what sort of monster Lord Kouji Oku had let loose upon the world. For the year that had passed since Haku's encounter with the frightening ninja, he'd taken some comfort in the idea about how unlikely it was that they'd ever cross paths again.

But there he was, just as Haku remembered – those same veined and bulging arms, broad back and bull neck, the same dark face, and, worse of all, his chakra. It radiated malevolently, pulsing like a thousand throbbing heartbeats under the man's skin which still seemed to Haku to be nothing more than a too-thin mockery of a disguise draped over an atrocity too horrifying to be allowed to be seen.

Whatever Krishenay was, he…IT was a killer. It had snuffed out the jonin Toru Yamashite's life with barely a thought and now, now, had conquered the Nine-Tailed Fox just as easily.

_There's no way YOU can defeat him, _the thought tore at Haku as he watched the giant pace toward Naruto's tortured, twitching form, with hundreds of emboldened mist-shinobi advancing right behind.

Spurred by desperation, Haku's jaw tightened as he leaped toward Naruto, trying to reach him before Krishenay did, then stumbled from the impact as a pair of kunai sank into his shoulder blade. Fortunately his armored jacket had done its job, keeping the blades from penetrating too deeply. The former Demon's Apprentice grimaced and tried to surround himself in a protective wind but Hideo was already there at his back, a human shield taking the volleys of knives and shuriken that followed.

_Stupid!_ the Demon's Apprentice thought, s_o stupid to let my guard slip._

Though he knew full well that Lord Tsujita's protector would not be harmed by mere weapons, Haku still felt a tug of obligation toward him. That didn't last long however as Hideo grabbed him by the collar and jerked him back.

"Let go!" the constable commanded, struggling fiercely, but the bodyguard's grip remained firm. More than that, the young ninja could feel the chakra leech from his body.

Haku thrashed again and, this time, a gust of biting wind ripped over Hideo's face, distracting him while the prisoner tore himself loose.

While the one-time Demon's Apprentice rushed to his fallen friend, the bodyguard shook off the effects then formed a chakra seal. Behind him, the dark waters of the canal running beneath the North Star Bridge began to swell.

Haku's footfalls, racing at first, slowed as he saw he wasn't going to make it then slouched to a defeated stall as Krishenay Rahaman knelt, seized Naruto by the tatters of his uniform and hoisted the yellow-haired boy's motionless form high.

Ranks of mist-shinobi flowed around the two toward Haku who could only stand there stupidly and watch as they came. Desolation flooded him. For the first time in a long, long while, he had no idea what to do – no idea at all.

The teenager's gray eyes rose then as the ninjas stopped their advance and stared over him while the light began to dim. Turning to see for himself, Haku's mouth fell open at the sight of the towering wall of water rising up behind Hideo.

Haku glanced back at the Mist Village's legions.

All kiri-ninja were, of course, used to water-based jutsu and new very well how to hold their breaths for amphibiously-long periods of time – those of them who couldn't breath water directly - but as the wall continued its skyward climb, over the rooftops then high over the city, even the strongest of them had to pause and look at each other uncertainly.

Haku turned his gaze back towards Hideo who dropped his raised arms sharply to his sides. Puppet-like before his jutsu, the oceanic monolith curled at the top, arced high over Haku's head, then came plunging down.

* * *

_Hi, everyone and sorry about the late chapter. This one was really hard to wrap up and I'm still not totally satisfied with it, but at some point the show must goes on, right? Plus I'm having a lot of unfun personal crap to deal with._

_In response to reviews, I'm not going to break curse words anymore. I was doing that, basically, out of paranoia that ff would delete my stories if they felt I went beyond their ratings guidelines but, seriously, my stuff is fairly tame PG / PG-13 tops. Oh, and thanks, "JH". It's nice to know someone's waiting on my updates :)_

_Thanks for reading!_

_-Jonohex_


	22. The Wonders of the Deep Part 1

_Hi, and thanks for coming back :)_

_-Jono_

* * *

**Part 5 – The Wonders of the Deep**

With his plan failed and Naruto's fate uncertain, Haku finds himself again a fugitive. Even with aid arriving from an unexpected source, will Haku be able to save the Mist Village from extinction?

* * *

**They have seen the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep.**

-Psalm 107:24

**Haku**

Along the dark waters of the Mamiya River which flowed in serpentine languor along Kirigakure's western flank, the body of the Demon's Apprentice floated with arms outspread, his girlish face haloed in a nimbus of black hair.

Hideo's colossal, jutsu-conjured wall of water had crested then broken over the young ninja, it's crushing waters parting around him for long moments as if unwilling to trouble the teenager until at last they overwhelmed him and whisked him away in a punishing, pounding whirl that took him crashing into bodies, slammed him against the wall of a building six-stories high then washed him back to the canal. Along the way, spinning uncontrollably and gasping for breath in the current's irresistible grip, the constable went rushing past where Krishenay Rahaman stood in an unruly sphere of space kept clear of the raging waters by the power of his monstrous chakra. The giant chuckled victoriously, a sickening, leering grin on his face, as he lifted the lifeless Naruto high like a hunter inspecting his trophy kill. Instinctively Haku had lunged from the water for his friend and felt his fingertips brush the genin's tattered uniform as he went sweeping past.

Haku's unconscious body, wheeling slowly now in the Mamiya's embrace on its way to the sea, unexpectedly righted itself, turned sharply against the current then began to travel purposefully toward shore. Only when Zabuza's student reached the shallows did his chest lift, the teenager's raven-haired head lolling limply back and forth, to reveal the hand that supported and guided him from beneath the waves. A little further in, Hideo's head and the tops of his shoulders broke the surface as the man slogged forward, carrying the Demon's Apprentice as he went.

Water gushed off the bodyguard's ruined clothes and scarred but uninjured flesh as he set foot at last on the rocky shoreline. His unblinking eyes scanned up and down the coast briefly before he marched further inland and vanished into the depths of the sparse forest.

Upon finding a clearing that seemed relatively hospitable, Hideo un-shouldered his soggy burden and leaned Haku against a tree. The constable looked half-drowned, his breath barely perceptible and his wounds, no longer kept sealed by chakra techniques, had split open all the way down to the bone.

With a grimacing frown, the bodyguard pulled out a kunai and drew its honed edge across his palm. He then clenched a fist, held it up and let the clear ichors flowing within him dribble into Haku's open mouth.

In moments the young ninja's eyes snapped open. He gagged immediately, fell to his hands and knees then coughed up a volume of water; his ragged gasps echoed in the forest stillness. Finally, spent and out of breath, Haku wiped his mouth with a sleeve, crawled back to the tree and rested against it. Out of force of habit, he checked on the more serious of his injuries and was surprised to find them sealing up right before his eyes.

"You are…a very deep well, Mr. Hideo," the Demon's Apprentice offered in gratitude, sank back then looked around with increasing agitation. "Naruto," he inquired urgently and shot a look up at the bodyguard. "What happened? Did HE make it? Where is he?"

Hideo shrugged with his typical stoicism, a gesture that hit Haku like a blow.

"Oh…oh, no." The constable's face went even paler then twisted in anguish as he let his head fall into his hands. "No…no. You should have saved him. You should have saved him before me. _You should've…_" His insistent words disappeared into a spasm of desolate, shuddering tears. "It's my fault," Haku muttered, staring into the forest, his expression drawn and haunted. "I KNEW I shouldn't have let him come; I KNEW it!"

Wiping his wet face with the heel of his hand, The Demon's Apprentice broke into quiet, bitter sobs.

"Naruto," he began again, "after everything he's been though; after everything he achieved and everyone he was able to defeat – demons, monsters and ninjas of every kind." The teenager looked up at the bodyguard. "He beat me too, easily, when we were enemies." Falling silent, Haku's expression condensed as his thoughts plunged into an abyss of miserable sorrow. "All those years he survived," the shinobi intoned, "even triumphed, all that…and he didn't even last a _week_ in my company. He was my friend, despite a thousand reasons why he might not have been. And I failed him. I failed him like I failed Zabuza."

Hideo looked down at the teenager, eyes shifting with appreciation.

"He must be a good friend if you mourn him so much," the bodyguard rasped for the first time; his voice a chilling, sepulchral croak that left no doubt why it was he hadn't spoken before now. "I have to envy you both for that. But if he is strong like you say, then you should wait until you know for sure he's dead.

"After all," he continued, "no one would have expected him to turn into a demon like he did. Can you really say it'd be a surprise for him to still be alive?"

Haku nodded in somber acknowledgment of the bodyguard's point…but hearing wisdom and accepting it were very different things.

_Rahaman had him_, Zabuza's student remembered, an image he could never forget. _Isn't it just stupid wishful thinking to believe that Naruto could still be alive after falling into that…that murdering CREATURE'S hands?_

_Still, _he continued after a moment's pause, his mind resting on the blonde's cheerful smile and indomitable spirit, _Naruto's nothing if not unpredictable. If anyone could -._

The quality of the forest's timeless silence seemed to intensify, making Haku alert to the energies approaching through the trees. Whoever they were, there were a lot of them and they were skilled enough in ninja techniques to get close, almost right on top of him, before being detected. The Demon's Apprentice noted too how quickly and expertly the approaching shinobi moved to surround them in near perfect silence.

'_Figures, _he thought with a tired, cynical sigh.

Still, compared to the drama of being surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of pissed-off ninjas, nearly killed by an ANBU assassination team, all right in the middle of Kirigakure with the Nine-Tailed Fox raging, he really couldn't get too worked up about this.

In a few moments, a full score of mist-ninjas stepped out from the shadows and tangles of foliage and their leader, a squat kunoichi with hair the color of seaweed, approached.

Her eyes swiveled back and forth between the constable and the bodyguard for a moment before she jacked her thumb into her chest and commanded curtly: "Come with us."

Haku's grey eyes narrowed at the ninja's presumption; his cool smile crept into a scowl. And when the teenager snorted, his breath misted white in air that had, in that instant, turned very, very cold.

* * *

**Team Konohamaru**

"I'm TELLING you guys, that kid in the overalls is a NINJA!" Konohamaru's shrill voice crested as his determined, brown-eyed gaze swept back and forth between his two partners atop the gravel-carpeted rooftop.

Udon nodded with languid gravity. "I think he's right, Moegi. The kid left Naruto's apartment in the morning and when he came back he was Sasuke."

Konohamaru quickly added: "And _I_ was in the alley when he changed," the leaf-cadet continued to prosecute, resting his case with: "He used the Transformation Jutsu, and that PROVES it!"

Moegi's doubtful eyes fell as she stirred the gravel absently into patterns like a Zen garden in miniature. "But that boy, I mean, you said he was _our_ age."

"There's LOTS of kids our age and even younger that are really, really strong shinobi," Konohamaru answered, again the professor. "Grandpa told me that Kakashi was a JONIN when he was like only seven."

The redhead frowned as she considered this. "Well what," she began hesitantly, "what happened to Naruto then?"

"That's just it," Konohamaru hissed, tossing one end of his long scarf behind his neck. "_Obviously_ he's been KIDNAPPED!"

Moegi gasped then worried her lip. "Shouldn't we tell somebody?"

"Who'd believe us?" her leader argued. "That kid, if he even IS a kid, was slick enough to get away from Chouji and Shikamaru, and Shikamaru's a chunin! Plus he fooled Sakura so he's CLEARLY high level."

Udon leaned forward, adjusting the set of his round glasses. "You mean like those guys you said were after Naruto?"

The boy in the scarf shut his eyes, nodded gravely and folded his arms.

"Yeah, but," added Moegi, dowsing the discussion's momentum as she turned again to her natural yet reluctant role as contrarian, "changing into Sasuke - that was kinda stupid if this kid's supposed to be such a great ninja."

Konohamaru's expression lit with exasperation. "That just proves it even MORE, Moegi," he countered, waving an arm. "Sasuke didn't leave Konoha that long ago so word couldn't have gotten out yet."

The young kunoichi, though not entirely convinced, caught her leader's drift and gave in. "Alright, well," she fast-forwarded, "what do YOU think we should do, Konohamaru?"

"Glad you asked," answered the ninja-cadet with the cleverest grin. "'Cause I got that part all figured out."

* * *

**Inari**

Another knock at the door.

Sitting, as usual, at Naruto's little dining table, Inari goggled in disbelief while Chuuya tossed his head and made a sour face. Both were used to the drill now and had what they had to do nearly down to a science. Quickly and quietly the boys cleared the dominoes, assorted snacks and dirty dishes from the table then Chuuya went to hide in the cabinet under the sink.

_I'm glad Naruto has so many friends and everything,_ Inari thought and, once again, pressed his hands together in a chakra seal, _but MAN I kinda wish he had less!_

_I guess the good part is that I'm going to be like an EXPERT at the Transformation Jutsu by the time this mission's over with. I really hope it's soon._

Identical in every way to the blond leaf-genin, the Wave Country boy released the latch and opened the door half-expecting Sakura, returning as she'd said she would.

The boy plastered a pleasant, weary smile on his face but then gawked in shock. It was _not_ Sakura.

There in the doorway posed the most magnificent and strikingly beautiful woman he had ever seen, a glorious vision who, in a single, smoldering glance promised the mysteries of heaven, yes, and all the delights of earth: the spellbinding face of a goddess; tall, slender and curvaceous, with cascades of straight, silky black hair flowing over perfect, porcelain skin.

Oh…and naked as the day she was born.

Naruto's blue eyes went wide.

"Um, um, um," the blond babbled incoherently, staggering back zombie-like in his pajamas and nightcap with quivering hands held up as the lovely stranger fixed him with significant, sultry look then swayed hypnotically toward him on soft, bare feet. "Lady, I-I-I really, really think you got the wrong apartment or-or something!"

The angel seemed not to hear as she strolled up to the entranced boy, draped a slender arm around his neck, cocked her head teasingly, smiled and gazed raptly into his sapphire eyes.

Inari never saw the uppercut coming.

* * *

**Chuuya**

The woman's surprise punch thundered up into the ten-year old's jaw, clacking teeth and snapping his head back. With a puff of dispersing chakra, Inari's jutsu broke and he fell back straight as a board to the floor where he landed with a thud.

As the victorious vixen grinned in triumph, fists braced on perfect, flared hips, the doors to the cabinet under the sink flew open and the other black haired-boy shot to his feet.

Gasping at the sight of his lifeless teammate, Chuuya seized a frying pan from the stovetop and flew screaming at Inari's beautiful assailant with a singled chakra-fueled leap. The Wave Country boy's improvised weapon brushed the ceiling then rang out loud as it went crashing like Thor's hammer through the goddess' shocked face.

The nude woman spun from the impact, fell along then wainscoted wall then down to the floor in a heap. Mid-way, with a burst of dispersing chakra, she was no longer a lovely, deadly angel but a strange-looking, gap-toothed boy in a yellow shirt, grey, patched pants and long blue scarf.

Transported by a wild-eyed rage worthy of Valhalla, Chuuya stormed forward, raising his foot to lay down stomps when a blindsided tackle knocked the breath from him. The boy from Wave Country staggered in his assailant's grip as he found himself driven back off-balance with his arms trapped all the way across Naruto's apartment. Unable to stop or even slow himself, the apprentice ninja slammed hard into the far wall.

Grunting on impact, Chuuya caught a glimpse of a bespectacled face rising close to his shoulder at which he flailed his round head and gave the stranger a solid crack to the bridge of the nose. Blood squirted, glasses flew. Chuuya twisted in the other boy's loosened grip, dropped low then hammered his fist back hard, 'splitting the uprights'.

His young attacker's face twisted, a breathless squeal forcing itself through the frozen 'O' of his mouth; the boy's hands dropped limply as he sank.

Chuuya, scowling, raised his frying pan to smash but held the blow back.

*Tick*! The youngest Tezuka brother's head snapped sharply toward the strange sound just inches from his head and the child's dark eyes came to focus on a pointy metal spike that stuck from the window jamb like it'd been there the whole time. Only an instant later did he process that it was a senbon!

Turning back to the door, Chuuya's expression flashed fearfully as the furious red-headed girl who stood there let fly with three more. The kid from Wave Country fell into a crouch and hid as much of his tender anatomy as he could fit behind the scant armor of his frying pan while senbon whistled over his head, nicked his exposed back and pinged off the steel of his tiny shield.

A little shocked, Chuuya peeked out then quickly covered up again as the girl reached up to the twin, 'V'-shaped towers of her orange hair and pulled forth another volley. Sharp steel again rained over the boy, with one again grazing his back while another sank into the meat of his shoulder, making him yelp.

Rising up, his anger rekindled from the pain, Chuuya faced the kunoichi who glared back with more-than-equal venom in her eyes. The girl snarled, balled her fists then rushed him.

Haku's apprentice hadn't been studying tai-jutsu long but knew the set up for the flying side kick that was coming and tried to sidestep but found to his horror and surprise that he couldn't move. With a downward look Chuuya discovered that the boy who'd tackled him, who still lay groaning and incapacitated by that earlier nut-shot, had grabbed his leg and hugged it tight against his chest with both arms.

All the Wave Country boy could do was watch as the red-head took to the air, pivoted her hips, cocked her heel back then sent it rocketing into his chest.

Air burst from Chuuya's lungs as he gasped from the impact which rattled through his bones, making his insides quiver like jelly. The ten-year old had managed to slip the full rib-cracking force and, though shaken, was able to cover up as the girl landed cat-like on her feet then waded in with a fire-storm of punches.

Rolling with the blows, his foot still trapped, Chuuya ducked down and pretended to be hurt much worse than he was. With the level-change an opening came and the boy counter-attacked, slamming his frying pan hard across the fierce girl's shin.

Chuuya wobbled then tumbled back on his butt, thrown off-balance by his wild swing while the red-head shrieked, grabbed at her leg then fell over. The black-haired boy thrashed and strained as he tried to pry his foot out of the other boy's clutches then raised his pan and gave him a hard whack on the top of the head, then again, and again – pang! Pang! Pang! Sitting down like he was, Chuuya couldn't muster much force, but he knew from experience that if he kept at it the kid would eventually let go. Pang-pang-pang!

As the pan rang against the fallen boy's head for the twelfth time, Chuuya was proven right and he clambered to his feet. Once there, it was all he could do to force his lips not to quiver at the sight of his own blood and the senbon sticking in his arm.

After mustering enough nerve the boy took hold of the projectile gingerly, teased it from his flesh then dropped it as if it were a wriggling snake. As much as it hurt, all thoughts of pain were forgotten instantly when his eyes fell again upon his partner's motionless form.

_Inari!_ Chuuya thought, sick with worry, took a step toward him then abruptly stopped.

That other ninja kid, the one with the crazy scarf, was starting to get up.

Chuuya waited as his spiky-haired foe staggered drunkenly to his feet with one hand pressed to the swollen side of his head.

Moaning miserably, the boy looked at Chuuya then his own two fallen teammates then settled back on Chuuya. His young face curdled with wrath.

_It's THAT guy! These are those obnoxious kids from before - Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi! _Haku's apprentice remembered from the peeks he'd caught through the cabinet doors.

Chuuya returned a malevolent sneer then flexed his frying-pan arm.

Anyone or anything passing between the stare-down at that moment would have been reduced immediately to ashes.

As the long seconds ticked by, one after the other, Chuuya was unable to repress his concern for his teammate no matter how bad he wanted to knock the ninja cadet's gap-toothed face from his body. The boy's eyes kept darting toward Inari just as Konohamaru's flickered towards his friends. Eventually, at a silent and mutually understood signal, a very temporary truce was declared and both of the aspiring ninjas began to move. Chuuya circled slowly towards Inari while Konohamaru crept warily along the living room wall toward Udon and Moegi.

Chuuya, his dark eyes never wavering from the scarf-clad cadet, finally let them fall as he reached his partner then knelt close over him.

"Inari," he whispered with tender urgency as he cradled the unconscious boy's black-haired head and kneaded his shoulder. "Please, Inari, get up. Come on, man, we're in _trouble._"

* * *

**Inari**

A bubble formed then popped between Inari's lips as he started to stir a little and his eyelids fluttered open. Right above him, filling his vision, his teammate's pudgy, stupid and strangely reassuring face hovered damp with sweat.

"Huh…wha," Inari muttered though his eyes were still unfocussed. Almost immediately the boy grimaced in pain and reached up to nurse his bruised and swollen chin.

"Alright!" Chuuya cheered, carefully and quietly as he looked back at the three goggle-wearing intruders.

The red-headed girl, Moegi, was back up but limping. Udon was still down, being tended to and consoled by their spiky-haired ringleader.

Frowning, Chuuya tried to haul Inari to his feet but his partner was still wobbly.

"What happened?" the skinnier boy asked at last in a shaky voice. "Are-are you _bleeding?_"

"We're in trouble, Inari. It's those kids, remember?"

Inari sat up and groaned, both hands holding his jaw now, as he looked through bleary eyes at the two boys and the girl then gawked at how battered and beat-up they were.

"Chuuya," he offered in astonishment. "Did…did _you_ do all that?"

"Sure did," Chuuya growled proudly. "And there's a lot more where that came from too! Come on, Inari. You and me, together - we can take 'em."

"Chuuya," Inari cautioned.

Konohamaru, after getting Udon sitting upright, whirled around. Moegi was right beside him.

"ALRIGHT!" the leaf-cadet barked angrily, pointing his finger in hot accusation. "What have you guys done with Naruto?"

Chuuya spat and raised his frying pan. "Like we'd ever tell YOU!" he roared back.

Inari's eyes widened. He turned his head toward then leaned close to his partner, cupped his hand and whispered in a puzzled tone: "What'd you say THAT for?"

"'Cause SCREW THESE GUYS, that's why!"

The boy's brow rose with concern. The heat of his partner's rage was palpable. "Chuuya -."

"NO! This time we do it my way."

"It's not a contest!" Inari argued, still trying to keep his voice hushed. "Come on, Chuuya. What are we gonna do?"

Chuuya glanced at him, breath huffing like a train, his eyes like a tyrant's. "We'll _start_ with mopping the freakin' floor with these losers."

Inari couldn't help but make a face. "And THEN what?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's not like they won't tell anybody," said Inari, who then fought to keep himself from falling over. He felt dizzy. His jaw throbbed and all this arguing wasn't helping it.

"Well," Chuuya stammered. Though Inari's question had flustered him he wasn't about to let that get in the way. "We'll keep 'em here…just…I don't know, tie 'em up or something."

"'Tie 'em up'? What, we're gonna take 'em prisoner too?"

"FINE!" Chuuya spat back. "We'll throw 'em out the window instead!"

"You know that doesn't make any sense. Look, Chuuya, we can't fight here. If we trash Naruto's place Naruto AND Haku-sensei will be really mad." Sensing an opportunity, Inari ventured: "Can I just try talking to them?"

Chuuya hissed in disgust. "Just whose side are you ON? They already knocked you the HELL OUT once, Inari. Did you forget?"

Inari glared at his friend, almost moved to hit _him_ for a comment like that but then saw it in his eyes what had made him so mad. Chuuya _cared_ about him, much more than Inari had ever thought – enough to risk himself for, enough to beat the living hell out of anyone who'd hurt him. The realization left him stunned.

_Is this what it's like,_ the thought crossed Inari's mind,_ to have a brother?_

"Just let me try, Chuuya," Tazuna's grandson pled with greater delicacy. "If I mess it up, or, it doesn't work or something…then we'll do it your way – all in."

"Fine," agreed Chuuya, but his anger was far from gone.

Even more furious at being kept waiting for so long, Konohamaru stamped his foot. "If you're done talking it over, I'll ask you clowns just one more time: _WHAT DID YOU __**DO**__ TO NARUTO!"_

Chuuya rose to his enemy's fury, cursed, lowered his brow and took a menacing step forward but Inari intercepted him.

Presenting himself hesitantly with his jaw still throbbing in time with his heartbeat, Inari answered as best he could: "We haven't done _anything_ to Naruto. We're just…we're just watching his place while he's gone."

"LIAR!" shouted Konohamaru who raised his tightly-clenched fists. "Naruto's gone away LOTS of times and never had anyone do that, let alone strangers!"

Inari's expression flashed as he struggled to control his own temper. _Gettin' punched in the face and then called a liar too? Maybe Chuuya's right!_ his thoughts simmered. Nevertheless, sticking with his idea for now, he managed to add in a more or less diplomatic tone: "It's different this time."

"Different HOW?"

"Because no one's -!" Inari cried, stopped himself then gulped, fearing he'd already said more than he'd meant to. But he had to tell them something. "Because no one's supposed to know he's gone."

Konohamaru, clearly not believing any of this, folded his arms. "Oh, yeah?" he taunted, "gone where?"

Inari shook his head. "I can't tell you that."

"No?"

"I swear I can't tell you!" Inari insisted. "He's…well, he's gone to help out a friend. I can say that much."

Konohamaru's brow beetled in near-revulsion.

"Look, my name's Inari," said the black-haired boy who then tilted his head toward his heftier partner, "and this is Chuuya. We're Naruto's friends too and -."

"Oh, like I'm gonna believe a story like -.

"Wait," said Moegi for the first time. "Inari…from the Land of Waves?"

Konohamaru looked at her as if she'd just levitated. "Moegi…you," the boy sputtered, "you KNOW this guy?"

"Inari," she repeated to her leader as if that should be explanation enough. "Wave Country," she continued when the cadet's blank look answered plainly that it was not, "you know: Haku, Zabuza, the bridge-builder. Don't you remember? He's the kid Naruto told us about." The redhead turned toward Inari and blinked. "So you're Tazuna's grandson."

Inari grinned a little at the idea that maybe, just maybe, they were making progress then nodded. "Yeah! That's me!"

Awkward looks followed all around then at the dawning realization that all this ruckus might have been both avoidable and unnecessary.

Still wary and mistrustful, both groups went to Naruto's freezer, cabinets and his stash of medical supplies. After a few minutes all had icepacks banded to the relevant parts of their bodies, all bleeding stopped and all cuts and punctures cleaned and bandaged. When Konohamaru and Moegi, Inari and Chuuya gathered around Naruto's little dining room table, it looked like poker night at the hospital.

Udon, with head tilted back and icepacks against his nose, didn't feel much like moving and remained where he was on the floor.

Chuuya bit his lip, glanced over at the boy and his face sank guiltily. From across the table Moegi gave Chuuya a cold glare, sniffed then folded her arms.

For awhile all just sat in hurt, sullen silence.

"Inari, huh?" mumbled Konohamaru at last, leveling his one open eye at the engineer's grandson. "I sure don't remember Naruto saying anything about you being a ninja."

"I'm not really," he answered sheepishly, "just trying to be, like you guys, I guess."

Konohamaru's eye swiveled harshly toward Chuuya. "And YOU," he snarled, distinctly bitter, "are the _dirtiest_ fighter I've ever seen!"

Chuuya, his temper gone cold as his icepacks, frowned sadly and quietly at the accusation and it was Inari who came to his defense: "Hey, don't even start with that!" the smaller of the two Wave Country boys grumbled pointedly then shivered at the memory. "Using the Sexy Jutsu on me wasn't exactly 'fighting fair' either. I think I'm _scarred for life_ or something!"

"I suppose," the spiky-haired boy conceded but turned again to Chuuya: "where'd you learn to fight like THAT anyway?"

"At home," Chuuya muttered. "We fight all the time – me and my four older brothers…and one equally-mean older sister."

Konohamaru's brow rose then he just spat out a breath and shook his head.

"So, what village are you from and who's you guys' sensei, anyway?" asked Moegi.

"Um…sorry," Inari answered carefully, reluctant to rekindle hostilities, "but we -."

Konohamaru cut him off: "Yeah, yeah, you can't tell us 'cause it's SUCH a big secret."

"Something like that."

"Yeah, I get it. You've been using your Transformation Jutsu to trick people into thinking that Naruto's still here while he's really off saving the world or something."

Inari and Chuuya glanced at each other.

Moegi caught it. "Hey, wait a minute," she interjected. "What are we talking about here? Naruto's not in _danger _is he?"

Inari frowned. "Kind of. Yeah," the boy admitted. "At least, H – our sensei was really, really worried."

Konohamaru frowned for a moment then broke into an easy smile. "Relax, guys. Naruto's super-tough. He's been on all kinds of dangerous missions and beat up the nastiest bad-guys around!"

Inari brightened a little. "Yeah, you're right about that."

Chuuya, distracted and troubled from the moment they'd sat down, broke away then made his way over to Udon who sat in sullen silence on the floor.

"'You okay?" the Wave Country boy offered hesitantly, resting hands on his knees as he knelt.

The leaf-cadet mumbled affirmatively through his ice-packs but didn't sound that convincing.

Chuuya plopped down beside him. "I'm really sorry about – y'know," he confided awkwardly.

"S'ok," muttered Udon with a shrug. "It's my own fault. I'm supposed to be a ninja. I guess I'm not a very good one."

"Don't say that. I mean, none of my brothers ever got right back up from, y'know, a shot downstairs like that, not even Jimon and he's _eighteen._" The ten-year old's dark eyes lifted in painful remembrance. "I SURE caught a beat-down _afterwards_ though, even worse than the one I got this one time for biting a chunk out of his leg!"

Udon, still miserable, managed a polite, conversational smile.

"Come on, Udon. There's no such thing as a ninja who NEVER got beat up. We all got to learn somehow. The first time I tried to do ninja stuff, I ended up breaking BOTH hands," said Chuuya, holding up his arms with fingers curled dramatically. "Anyway, my sensei told me that being a ninja's about a lot more than just fighting. A _real_ ninja helps his team; helps his village and the people close to him.

"For me," the boy from Wave Country continued, "I'm really glad you were there to keep me from kicking Konohamaru. And I would have, HARD." He sniffed a breath then lowered his voice: "I was kinda mad after he punched out Inari."

Udon nodded, but more encouragingly this time.

"Seriously, Udon, I am really, really sorry. And, I mean, if there's any way I can make it up just let me know, ok?"

"Ok," the cadet agreed through a promising shadow of a grin.

Smiling with relief, Chuuya pushed himself to his feet and went back to the table where Konohamaru nodded at him with subtle approval, cracked a smile himself then, inexplicably, broke out laughing.

The whole room stared at the boy who pounded the table, almost lost his icepack then pointed a shaking finger at Chuuya. "Y-you," he gasped breathlessly through tears of pain and mirth, "you really hit me in the face with a frying pan!"

"Yeah," admitted Chuuya, another prophet of the obvious, as he rubbed the back of his neck, "I guess I kinda' did."

"You're CRAZY!"

Inari grinned. "Yeah, Chuuya," he accused in a half-serious tone then added: "Next time, use the WOK. It's LOTS heavier!"

* * *

**Haku**

The forest clearing was strewn with twitching bodies, half-frozen and peppered with senbon. Those mist-ninjas that were still mobile limped, crawled or crept away through a blanket of snow towards the shelter of the tree-line and away from the two figures commanding the center of the carnage.

The shinobi leader glared in disbelief at the near decimation of her platoon then hissed vengefully at Haku and Hideo who, for all her and her troupe's efforts, remained un-subdued.

Joined by her lieutenants, the kunoichi was signaling to attack again when a commanding voice broke in: "Stop! Stop this foolishness at once!"

Haku turned toward the sound and his brows lifted as a tall, silver-maned man of advanced old-age strode from the forest; a man the Demon's Apprentice recognized at once.

The newcomer, none other than the Clan Patriarch and Mist Village Councilor, Lord Kissohamaru Hirai surveyed the damaged, winter-shrouded landscape then cast his imperious gaze around at his demoralized subordinates.

"Is the pride of Kirigakure," he began, frowning direly, "really unable to apprehend a child and a reanimated corpse?" After giving his recrimination time to settle in, his cold, aristocratic gaze fell upon the young constable. "Still up to _your_ old tricks, I see."

Haku frowned, adopting a defiant posture. "So it seems."

"And, once again, out of your depth." Hirai sniffed. "But we're wasting time with this pointless reunion. Come along," he commanded, waved his hand then turned to go.

"I'm sorry, Lord Hirai," the Demon's Apprentice called after him, "I see no reason why I should."

The elderly ninja-lord turned back. "Recalcitrant as ever," he remarked then looked to his ninjas. "Did any of you at least get what I'd asked for?"

One of them hastened up to the man, knelt down and handed him something. Haku had to stare hard to see that it was a strand of hair - a long and black one.

The old man produced a paper talisman from his coat, folded the hair up inside it neatly, opened his mouth then swallowed it down.

"Now then, Haku," Lord Hirai reasserted once it had cleared, "come with me. You no longer have a choice."

The Councilor spun around and walked away whereupon Haku's body, divorced from the wishes of his mind, obediently followed – a prisoner of the old man's Tao magic.

"You too," added Hirai to Hideo. "I have questions for you as well. If you fail to answer them or make a nuisance of yourself I can unmake you with a single word."

* * *

**The Fire-Tongue Fleet**

The sea-eagle glided with determined effortlessness through veils of cloud. A few strokes of its muscular blue and grey wings carried the bird higher before it settled into a spiraling descent toward a lonely island moribund under a thick canopy of green.

Dropping down over the lush treetops, the osprey flared its wings wide and landed on a perch inside a camouflaged tower no human eyes would recognize even if they were standing right next to it.

A surprised mist-ninja glanced over the top of his magazine from where he lounged, leaning back in a chair with his feet propped up on the guard-wall. The young man stared at the newcomer, blinked as if it were a hallucination then moved slowly to his feet. With the trepidation of someone who'd never done this before and mindful of its hooked beak, the shinobi crept toward the bird then delicately unfastened the small scroll case from its leg after which he looked around for some food and water to give it. Finding none, the ninja let the messenger have the rest of his own lunch – half a sandwich and tea from his canteen, figuring that was better than letting the thing go hungry.

"Wow," the sentry muttered in grave appreciation as he held up the little cylinder, "a real message."

Frowning with resolve, the ninja raced to the base of the tower then into a vast water-filled bay packed with long, wide-bodied ships. High above, sunlight filtered through a canopy of vine-draped netting held aloft by a web-work of vinyl-jacketed steel cables. Sailors, deckhands and technicians turned to watch as the sentry sped along the docks then turned hard into the command bunker – an unhappy cube of stained, reinforced concrete.

"Boss!" he cried, raising a look from his commander who was otherwise engaged in a game of mahjong with two lieutenants.

The older man ran his fingers along a three-day old growth of beard then gestured for his subordinate to continue.

"We got a message."

The three players looked at him then at each other in mild surprise before one of them rose to take it.

"It's coded," grumbled the senior kunoichi after she'd cracked it open. "Shit…it's gonna take me some time to decrypt, Commander Okun."

"Quick as you can, Aino," the officer instructed lazily.

Hours later, Aino returned with a sheet of paper and a strange look on her face.

Already expecting that something was up, Okun took the translated message and read it, read it again…and then a third time just to be sure there was no misunderstanding.

"A drill?" Aino inquired. "It's gotta be a drill, right?"

Her commander shook his head. "We're sailing at dusk – the whole fleet. Spread the word."

The kunoichi snapped to attention, shaking off in one instant years of rust. "Yes, Sir! We'll be ready."

The commander turned to a long unstudied map of Water Country and began to lay out a course. One thing was for sure – somebody somewhere was about to have a very bad day.

* * *

_Thanks for reading and all the nice encouragement! It means a lot to me so I sure hope you enjoyed. To ease any doubts, I fully intend to complete this story. Having said that, I'm going through something of a transition now with a new job and everything so updates may be a bit more random._

_Take care :) -Jonohex_


	23. The Wonders of the Deep Part 2

_Hey, sorry it's taken awhile for the update. Things have been really crazy. _

* * *

…**People cry, people moan**

**Look for a dry place to call home**

**Try to find some place to rest their bones**

**While the angels and devils try to make them their own…**

-Lake of Fire, The Meat Puppets.

* * *

**Naruto**

Naruto awoke, or thought he did, shivering from the rush of cold wind in a world of fathomless black; the scraps of his slashed and blood-soaked uniform flapped against his skin. Though the boy could see and hear nothing, the sense of dizzying motion filled him.

_Am I…am I dreaming?_ he wondered dazedly amidst his confusion.

The last thing the genin remembered with any clarity was Kirigakure. An ambush. A fight. He'd struggled with that fierce, tattooed swordswoman as he'd tried to stop her from killing Haku but all those turbulent memories seemed like they were only half his – a jigsaw puzzle forced together from borrowed, mismatched pieces.

The pain - he certainly remembered that. The source had come from within: his supernatural tenant, the Nine-Tailed Fox, seized with rage, had tried desperately to sunder the spells that imprisoned it then tear its way out from inside him, clawing through the ninja's flesh, slashing and gnashing its teeth in some sort of perverse, demonic rebirth.

Mortified, the blond grimaced, cradled his arms protectively around his tummy and gulped at the residual sensation. The Kyuubi had never done anything like that before.

Just then, the quality of the surrounding darkness shifted and took on a spectral, ambient glow at which Naruto's cerulean eyes widened with a premonition of arrival which came much more suddenly than he'd anticipated. The teenager's gasp shattered the silence as he hit hard then went sprawling.

When the motion of his tumbling body finally ceased, the battered young shinobi blinked, lay there on what felt distinctly like a bed of stone then looked up toward a faint light that resolved after a moment into the tapestry of a strange, oppressive sky lit with the last dim vestiges of day.

A burning tingle of fresh scrapes reminded Naruto that, despite all the unknowns compassing him, he was still alive. Grunting and gritting his teeth, the boy pushed his way to his feet then took stock of his injuries which, thankfully, didn't seem that severe. Even Yashako's cruel broadsword strokes were healed to the point that they no longer bled.

_Stupid Fox,_ the blond grumbled then added a bitter, begrudging concession toward the spectacular healing abilities his occupant granted but again rested a hand on his stomach. _At least you're good for something._

Before the teenager could fully get his bearings Naruto startled as he became aware of something close by in the darkness, lingering as if it'd been there beside him the whole time – a horrid chakra unlike anything the jinchuuriki had ever felt before. Even the Kyuubi's energy, sinister and hateful though it was, was still essentially _life_ but this…this felt more like its denial, it's antithesis.

As the thin line of the suns last glimmer vanished under the distant horizon, the young ninja whirled to face a towering monster of a man whose inhuman expression and lifeless eyes, portals to oblivion, filled him with inexpressible dread.

_It's…it's HIM,_ thought an astonished Naruto who realized at once that it was the mist-shinobi Haku had told him about: the Mizukage's emissary, Krishenay Rahaman. It could be none other.

The genin's lip quivered a moment before he was able to master a sick, instinctive fear so profound that he might have blacked out had he not be warned about the giant's vile nature.

"Alright, you!" Naruto railed shrilly through his rebelling senses. "What's this all about? Just where are we and why'd you bring me here?"

An uncomfortable, tepid wind stirred through the young ninja's thicket of yellow hair while Krishenay, standing there unmoved by the ninja's challenge, a darker silloughette against a backdrop of darkening sky, seemed intent to keep his silence forever.

Naruto's jaw tensed. "Well!"

At length his captor spoke. "Given our nature," a rumbling, inhuman voice answered, ignoring the shinobi's question, "the last thing we ever would have expected was to be favored by _providence _and yet here you are – the most powerful supernatural force in existence…helpless and imprisoned before us within a fragile shell."

Waves of Rahaman's nauseating chakra washed over Naruto and he couldn't help but falter. There'd been others like this before who the genin had felt truly powerless: Zabuza Momochi the first time they'd met then Orochimaru not too long after that; Itachi Uchiha, who'd appeared in his life like a black angel, and Kissame Hoshigaki, a true denizen of nightmares. Every time Naruto had thought he'd made some progress toward the limits of what a shinobi could become along came someone else, a traveller from an even farther, more impenetrable frontier who'd let him know that for all his hard work and tireless, burning dedication that he'd hardly even explored the edges of the territory.

Despite Naruto's brash nature, as he stood before this monster without equal, the boy struggled, frozen by an overpowering sense of awe and terror. Strangely, the one realization amidst all this that buoyed him was that this new nemesis couldn't possibly be human.

"Death has come to Kirigakure," the titan, unasked, informed him, "delivered not by any enemy or even by cruel, capricious fate but by its own warring hands. It is astonishing to behold and has spurred us, after years of discord, at last to consensus."

Naruto cocked a golden eyebrow as curiosity got the better of his dread. "Ok…just who is this 'us'," he began, "and what are you talking about?"

"The dawn of a new equilibrium," the looming shinobi's voice illuminated. "It will begin soon enough with the Fourth Mizukage's death and continue with yours. Without him, without Lord Oku, we will be free at last of the spells that have imprisoned then enslaved us for so long. By consuming _you_ we shall share the life energy of the Kyuubi no Yoko that resides within you." Krishenay leveled at the boy a frightful, penetrating look. "Even shared by one-hundred and eight greedy mouths the total remains undeminished. That power combined with our own will make us unchallengeable. We shall be free to explore our common passions and feed on your kind as in the days before the First Mizukage. It is fitting, then, that his village, the Village Hidden in the Mist, born out of their fear of us shall, in their death throws, be the first to satisfy our hunger."

The blond ninja stared, not knowing quite what he could or should say to something like that.

"Do not be overly concerned," Rahaman continued with a sickening attempt at a grin, in answer to Naruto's querulous look. "We have learned from our defeat at the ninja-lord's hands, and now appreciate the values of moderation and self-discipline. We have learned also that people are, by their nature, selfish and fearful. It is clear to us now that as long as we spread our depredations equally among your tribes, take care that their losses are manageable and reward those who submit, humanity is unlikely to band together against us again.

"After a time," he went on with surprising clarity, "we will become accepted as part of the way of things. We mean to _coexist_ with mankind as other predators coexist with their prey throughout the natural world."

Naruto, whose face screwed with disbelief more and more as the monster masquerading as a man went on, finally balled his fists and barked: "Are you serious? That's the craziest bunch of crap I've ever heard! What, are you saying you're just going to run around eating people or something? You think you're going to eat ME?" The teenager glared, bolstered by vast reserves of recalcitrance.

"The world will have no choice, and neither will you," offered Rahaman in something like a helpful tone but every nuance of emotion or humanity seemed wrong, like play-acting, and only infuriated. "The first lord of the Mist Village only barely survived us, and we're many times stronger now than we were then."

Naruto scowled, fuming, but still his insides knotted at the idea that his abductor might not be wrong. One thing he'd started to learn over his brief career was that the ninja world was rife with weirdoes and maniacs but that their chaotic mental states never seemed to prevent them from mastering (or harboring) inexplicable powers.

"We shall withdraw now to let you ponder your fate, remarkable child. Even now, here, in the well of our presence and having shared our wisdom," the massive mist-ninja gestured in a clunky, unnatural way, "so far from help you retain hope but it won't last. Hunger, exposure, loneliness all will take their toll. In time, you will come to appreciate this and when at last you yield, inevitably, to how helpless you truly are then we shall conclude our business. You won't resist us then; you won't be able to. More to the point," he intoned cruelly in a way that did come across as genuine, "you won't wish to."

* * *

**The Fire-Tongue Fleet**

Commander Okun looked ahead through the laminated glass at the vast expanse of dark sea illuminated only by the subdued running lights of his flotilla, then down at the neat row of accordion canvas canopies that stood like so many tent houses on the foredeck of his unnamed flagship. Ahead and far off the starboard bow the stony profile of an island made itself known by the black absence of the stars it obscured.

"We're almost in position, Sir," his navigator's voice hissed in a telltale accent from behind him.

The mist-ninja glanced at his lieutenant and once again noted the woman's slit smile and black, wide set eyes before accepting how unlikely it was that she might be mistaken.

"Signal all stop. We'll weigh anchor here, refine our position at first light then begin the attack."

In just a few hours all those canvas canopies crowning the decks of his armada would fold back, revealing what most people would take for a bunch of pipe-organs set on their sides and fastened to rotating mounts. A moment later when those instruments began to play it would not be music but a thousand fin-tailed cylinders shooting skyward in a burst of shrieking, chemical glory. A few seconds of flight later and the simple forces of gravity and inertia would bring to the unsuspecting target cataclysms undreamt of.

The science of rocketry was, of course, ages old and still used throughout the world for celebrations and spectacles…but NEVER for weapons. This was a distinction explicitly stated and strictly enforced by the treaty between the Elemental Nations.

The commander chuckled mirthlessly. If the rockets aboard his ships were in themselves prohibited as 'forbidden weapons' then the warheads inside them, volatile substances born through the unholy unions of old science and even older ninja alchemy, certainly were. The discovery of either in the hands of any kiri-ninja meant war and was part of the reason why these ships and their crews had been 'sanitized' – bearing no identification, no hitai-ate, family photographs or anything of the sort. The names of all these mariners and marines who manned the vessels of the Fire-Tongue Fleet would not be found in any 'bingo book' or even in the archives of the Mizukage.

While the commander's obedient crew went about making all the necessary preparations, Okun mused on his place in the unwritten history of Water Country known only to those privileged enough to be granted access to the most perplexing of all tales – the truth.

In the end, he decided it didn't matter. History was nothing more than a continuing present anyway. Despite what some professors might say from their halls of dust, books and illusions, there was no such thing as social evolution. There have always been and would always be leaders giving orders like the ones he'd been given just like there'd always be well-trained men like him who would carry them out. Only when that stupid-simple order broke down did history and the truth, for that one brief chapter, mirror each other only to diverge again much faster than anyone would think.

"And it's messy," Okun concluded quietly to himself, wrinkling his nose with an uneasy edge of distaste. "Damn messy."

* * *

**Naruto**

To his surprise, Naruto found himself no longer in some unknown landscape being confronted by the insane, inhuman and disturbingly-powerful emissary of the Mizukage but in a murky corridor instead. Overall, it seemed like barely an improvement. The masonry walls, cold and grey, were lined up above with leaking pipes and pulsing ductwork. Just how the boy had arrived he wasn't exactly sure but on the bright side, his favorite outfit of vivid orange and brilliant blue had miraculously returned to him.

_Wait, I know this place. I'm…I'm here; inside myself again, _the leaf-ninja marveled as he began to recognize the strange analog the Kyuubi created upon occasion within his consciousness; a place where they could meet face to face.

The blond frowned then heaved a sigh, a wince crossing the expressive features of his face. _How come he has to go and make it so creepy? _he grumbled._ As if I look like THIS on the inside._

Following the usual path, Naruto arrived at last at the center of the labyrinth – a final chamber where all the ducts and pipes and conduits lead. Black water pooled ankle deep on the floor.

There behind a towering gate of stout, solid-looking bars held shut by a single, bright rectangle of paper, the talisman none other than the Leaf Village's Fourth Hokage had crafted, the spectral, lupine visage of the Kyuubi no Yoko lurked with eyes of molten iron and teeth of ivory scimitars.

"You must release me," it got right to the point, growling with ancient malice. The rumbling, basal tones of it's demand came reverberating off the walls in rolling waves.

Naruto startled a little at the demon's directness but quickly recovered. "What?" he countered sourly then waved his hand in a curt, dismissive sweep. "No way; forget about it."

The fiery eyes of the Nine-Tails narrowed. "If you don't then we both die, Naruto. That…_abomination_ that took us are the 108 Gakidou, whatever name they go by now, demons that terrorized the islands of the Land of Water since long before it was a country. They have," its fearsome expression wriggled with disgust, "_comingled_ inside that shell that was once a man, uniting their energies as well as their bodies." The Fox riveted Naruto with a look. "In case it's still unclear to you they mean to _consume_ us, adding our chakras to theirs."

The young leaf-ninja paused in thought. The monster himself had told him as much. "Yeah, well," he allowed awkwardly, a little discomfited by the whole situation. For so many years Naruto had been alone, feared or ignored. He would have done, and indeed HAD done, anything for a little attention. This, however, was not the kind he'd had in mind.

"If I have to, I can just use _your_ power to stop him…it, um, them…just I did all those other times."

"Idiot!" the Nine-Tails spat in a furnace-hot gust. "Fighting THEM with my power _shackled_ like this is useless, and they've made it clear that they're going to wait for _you_ to weaken. Tied as I am to your miserable flesh when you weaken I become vulnerable. You are my conduit as well as my container, my bridge to the physical world as long as I am imprisoned inside you.

"Individually," continued the Kyuubi, "those demons were no more than nuisances but together as a pack, pooling their essences as they have, they are formidable. And if they devour me then nothing in this world can stop them."

Naruto's uncertain expression evolved into a more thoughtful frown. The Fox's argument made sense, a lot of sense, but he wasn't about to start taking its advice. If the boy had come to know one thing about his tenant from their involuntary association, it was that it could not be trusted.

"_Don't you get it yet, whelp!"_ the monster roared. "Those worthless rodents, those insects among demon-kind, are going to EAT us and you can't stop them. If you don't care about that then think about what they said. They will be free to feed on humanity wherever and whenever they please. Surely your soft heart will not allow that!

"Now, stop wasting time," the Demon-Fox demanded finally, its nightmarish face looming large against the bars of its prison, all eyes and teeth, "_and set…me…FREE._"

The boy, chastened a little by his tenant's frank explanation, stood in the dank, dark chamber; the pulse of pipes and ductwork echoed his heartbeat.

"No," his high, gravelly voice answered, not angrily, after a time. "I heard what you said and I believe it. But I know better than to just rip down that seal that the Fourth Hokage must've gone through a whole lot of trouble to put up."

"FOOL!" thundered the Kyuubi who lashed at the bars; the labyrinth shook from its rage but -.

"Shut up!" Naruto roared back. "I'll find a way out of this; I WILL! Without your help and meanwhile YOU can stay right there out of trouble."

With that the teenager turned in the bubbling, ankle-deep water and strode away with the demon's wrathful voice pounding in his ears: "Do you think you can beat them, Naruto! Do you! Do you think that one-hundred and eight monsters that roamed the earth since the dawn of humanity can be brought to heel by your pitiful jutsu and tiny, little-boy's fists? Do you imagine you can negotiate with them? Nothing exists, nothing is real to them but their appetites! You've doomed us! You've doomed us BOTH!"

* * *

**Gennosuke**

The lavender-haired boy popped awake out of a troubled sleep, gasped in shock, sat bolt upright in bed then screamed: "RUN!"

"Run," he repeated breathlessly to himself with an overpowering sense of purpose, his haunted, reddish eyes roving wildly as he threw off his covers and rushed to the slatted, sliding door.

Seconds later, Gennosuke, still in colorful pajamas, flung open the door to Sakiko's room, fumbled through the darkness to her bedside and shook the older girl awake.

Of course, surprising a Kaguya like this wasn't the smartest thing to do, considering the nature of their clan's kekkei-genkai, but in his haste the possibility of getting skewered through the giblets with bone lances hadn't even crossed the ten-year old's mind.

"Sakiko!" he implored loudly. "Wake up, we got to get out of here; we got to GO."

Dazedly, the girl slowly came to her senses and tossed back stray ribbons of her long, white hair from in front of her surprised face. "Go…what?" she mumbled through the strands that stubbornly remained then shoved Gennosuke's spidery fingers off her shoulders. "Gennosuke? Wh-what TIME is it? What do you think you're doing in MY room; and what are you talking about?"

With a determination that surprised even him, the Serizawa scion persisted and fixed her with a desperate look. "We got to GO, Sakiko, we got to go NOW!"

The girl, increasingly flustered, frowned and narrowed her gaze. "Have you lost your mind?"

Just then the door to the adjoining room slid aside and Sakiko's brother, Tensai, towering, glowering serious and pale as any specter from gothic fantasy, appeared at the threshold.

_Still_ undeterred, Gennosuke turned towards him and squared his narrow shoulders. "We have to GO!"

Tensai vanished into the darkness of his room. After a moment he returned with his few worldly possessions wrapped up in a bed-sheet slung over one shoulder.

From her bed, his little sister goggled. "Tensai?" she gasped, "what…what in world are you _doing?"_

The elder Kaguya shrugged. "Who am I to question another's madness," he intoned then left without another word.

Gennosuke, himself puzzled, looked back and forth between the two, gave the white-haired girl a final, imploring look then scrambled after Tensai.

Sakiko, all alone now, nonplussed and as wide awake as she'd ever been this late at night stared out her wide-open door, hissed in frustration then flung aside her covers, put on slippers, threw a blanket on over her night-shirt and went stalking after them.

* * *

A half an hour later found almost the entire enclave's population upon the rock and root-strewn paths that twisted up to the island's barren high-ground. The assembly, propelled thus far by a sense of urgency and herd mentality, finally tired enough to start to wonder what was behind this inexplicable mass-exodus in the middle of the night.

Lord Tohma Nikai, clearly vexed and perplexed, with his shaggy locks of ashen hair looking even more untamed than normal and wearing a bathrobe and sandals, pushed his way to the front, stopped and bellowed in a commanding voice: "HEY! What is all this? What's going on?"

"Lord Nikai," one of his following answered. "Don't YOU know?"

A long, chaotic moment followed where the tribes of Water Country's expatriate clans looked at each other stupidly then around at random until Gennosuke Serizawa with face downcast tugged at his sensei's terrycloth sleeve.

The ninja patriarch looked down at the boy then away at first before he got the message.

"YOU, Gennosuke?" he asked in a bewildered tone, one grey eyebrow raised. "_You_ brought everyone out here? But why?"

The boy turned away shyly, knowing how it would sound. "I…I had a dream," he tried to state firmly.

Tohma frowned but then, after a moment of thought, asked carefully: "What kind of dream?"

Gennosuke really didn't know how to answer or put into words what he had experienced. "It was real," he explained, gulping at the memory. "The enclave was on fire."

Overhearing this exchange, the people around them groaned in exasperation while their leader attempted to keep an open mind.

Tohma knelt so that he was at eye level with his young pupil then offered sympathetically: "I'm the _last_ person to doubt the possible importance of your visions, but Gennosuke, are you sure this wasn't just a nightmare – something created in your own mind?"

Surrounded by dubious, slightly-pissed off and askance looks, the Serizawa child's voice trailed doubtfully. "I…I'm pretty sure."

Disgruntled mutterings rose then passed through the assembly like a ripple in a pond as the villagers, annoyed at finding themselves out of doors in the middle of the night for no good reason, cursed quietly then started to head back.

"I was -," Gennosuke started to say then fell quiet, feeling ashamed at his overreaction and betrayed by his supposed 'blood-gift' but at same time, could not let go of his vision.

Pale Tensai, meanwhile, stood at his shoulder, towering over the boy as still as a statue. Though the Kaguya hadn't said or done a thing, Gennosuke felt encouraged somehow by the ninja's continued presence.

Gennosuke's rust-colored eyes reluctantly but anxiously sought Sakiko and he couldn't help but cringe in advance of the reaction he expected and probably had coming.

But the white-haired girl, looking back and forth, clearly torn between staying and following the rest back to the comforts of home, hearth and a warm bed, reluctantly chose to remain.

The skinny child swallowed hard, moved by the siblings' gesture of solidarity despite how unworthy he was of it.

All three looked at their leader then who looked blankly back.

"Hold on, everyone, hold on," Tohma beckoned after the crowd at last. "I know you're all tired but we're already out here so a few more minutes won't hurt."

A number of the barely tolerant looks his unwelcome words drew let the ninja-patriarch know, in no uncertain terms, that he was about to spend a lot of the goodwill he'd built up over their years in exile. Still, the enclave's weary, grumbling citizens ceased their plodding migration if only to indulge him.

Time passed. People waited: some patiently, most not until the complaints and protests of the latter rose to a pitch and then the same momentum that had drawn everyone out into the middle of the scrub forest in the dead of night started to pull them inexorably back.

Dawn began to break – a faint trickle of orange leaking in at the seam where the sky met the sea in the distance.

"Don't," Gennosuke squeaked, "don't go." But the half-hearted plea only drew a handful of bleary-eyed, barely-tolerant looks.

"I'm sorry," said Tohma who laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I can only imagine how difficult it must be to try and discern the difference between a dream and a true vision." He smiled self-consciously. "Not sharing your bloodline, I'm afraid I haven't been much help to you."

The boy grit his teeth to keep himself from tears and hammered a fist into his palm. "But I was so sure."

The Nikai patriarch gave Gennosuke a kind look and moved to say something instructive, something wise and comforting but never got past the first syllable.

The world flashed as pale dawn erupted suddenly into bright, broad daylight. An overture of percussive thuds followed like the beating of drums; and stares rose toward the direction of the enclave where fountains of burning wreckage trailed through the early morning sky like shooting stars. Beneath them blazed a blindingly-bright, white fire - a fire that raged against the drab colors of the forest with an eerie, intense, caged-animal-hunger.

As the last survivors of Water Country's blood-gifted clans gaped in horror and disbelief, more explosions flowered, one after another in a hellish spectacle loud as thunder and brighter than a thousand suns.

* * *

**Naruto**

Naruto awoke this time to the sounds of a gentle surf. His fluttering eyelashes kicked grains of coarse sand. Pushing himself up, the genin found himself upon a lonely stretch of beach marooned in the predawn gloom.

"Where -?" he mumbled tiredly and rubbed his head, having not slept particularly well.

His recollections of the bizarre conversations with not one but two demons (and possibly 109 if what he'd been told was true) the previous night seemed distant and surreal, like nothing more than a surpassingly strange dream.

"NOW where am I?"

The landscape yielded few clues: before him, a quiet sea stretched out into the dolorous black; above, a dark but gradually-lightening sky encumbered by leaden mantles of cloud; behind, a thin ribbon of sand which climbed up to a disconcertingly bleak shelf of weathered rock that was all but flat on top.

The disoriented boy winced, looked around, ran a hand through his yellow hair then searched through the ruins of his mist-ninja's uniform for anything like food but was quickly and thoroughly disappointed. Peeling what was left of the grey, bloodstained ruins of his armored vest and fatigue shirt from his fully-regenerated and now uninjured body, Naruto left them in a pile then began to walk along the strange shoreline figuring that he was bound to come across something or someone sooner or later.

The movement gradually helped clear the ninja's mind and got his blood flowing again after an uncomfortable night spent out in the open. As he walked though, hands in pockets, the chaotic events of the previous day slowly returned to him.

_So…did we win or lose or what? _he asked himself.

With all that had happened, it was so hard to tell now. The mission certainly hadn't gone as planned.

_This is all messed up. But those mist-ninjas killed Lord Tsujita so that means Kirigakure should be safe now, right?_

The proposition melted away the more Naruto thought about it.

_That Ramahan-108 Demons guy sure didn't think so. _The teenager's brow knitted. _He…it…they seemed to think that the whole place was right on the brink…or that HE'S going to go kill everyone in the Mist Village even if they're not! Seems to me like HE'S the real threat._

The boy scratched his head then glanced around anxiously as he walked along the water's edge. Something about this place troubled him. It didn't smell right, didn't FEEL right.

_And I,_ Naruto considered, worrying his lip with concern, _I turned into the Nine-Tailed Fox didn't I…or something like it just like I did fighting Sasuke…or worse. Now I don't even know where I am, and Haku -._

The thought of his friend's unknown fate made him stop.

_Haku._

_No,_ the young ninja reconsidered as he shook his head furiously then began walking again, _he might look all girly and pretty and delicate and stuff but that guy's WAY tougher than he looks. There's no WAY he didn't find a way out somehow._

* * *

On into the lingering morning hours, still with no sunrise, Naruto wandered up that stretch of shore, finding nothing and no one, wondering just where in hell those 108 Gakidou had taken him while trying harder and harder to ignore his rumbling stomach.

At last Naruto spotted something emerging from the distance - a dark shape laying on the beach.

"Huh?" he brayed then squinted as he tried to focus harder. "No way!"

Distrusting his eyes, Naruto broke into a run. His chakra-assisted strides took him flying over the sand; the waves and bleak landscape flashing past. In moments the genin staggered slowly to a stop then looked down. There at his booted feet sat the same pile of ruined clothes he'd left just a few hours ago and with his own footsteps in the sand leading away.

_I came full-circle; I'm on an island,_ he realized.

Naruto blinked then rubbed his whisker-marked cheek.

That one bit of information had wrapped the entire rest of his world around it and brought Krishenay Rahaman's inscrutable verses into clearer focus.

He WAS on an island - a very small and lonely island likely in the middle of a vast ocean. There was no food here, no fresh water and not a single living thing. He was marooned far from help with no one knowing where he was…and with no way off.

This little island was the 108 Gakidou's _pantry_, and Naruto: its only morsel.

* * *

**Inari**

The Wave Country boy's jaw was still tender when he woke up despite having iced it all the previous day and downing a vial of anti-inflammatory before bedtime. Even so, Inari still couldn't help but laugh a little – so much trouble over a little misunderstanding!

In hindsight, he felt really sort of flattered to have been thought of as an 'enemy ninja' capable of penetrating the Village Hidden in the Leaves then abducting and replacing one of its shinobi with no one being the wiser. He was really making progress!

The boy rolled over in Naruto's borrowed bed and drowsed under the covers with a smile blooming on his bruised face.

_I'm just lucky I didn't lose any teeth._

Yesterday had been his very first 'ninja-battle', if you could call it that, and although it hadn't gone anything like the way he'd ever thought it would, he and Chuuya had acquitted themselves well enough and ended up making some pretty good friends in Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon.

_Living here in the Leaf Village is gonna be a LOT easier with them helping us,_ Inari thought, _especially if Naruto and Haku are gonna be awhile._

A satisfying sense of accomplishment filled him.

_Yup. Making friends – there's nothing better! _he summed up neatly to himself then slowly emerged from the warmth and comfort of his blankets to meet the challenges of the coming day.

Setting bare toes on the wooden floor of Naruto's apartment, the black-haired boy stretched his lean arms then cast a mischievous look over at Chuuya who lay still as a stone atop a makeshift palette of the blond leaf-ninja's clothes and towels.

Inari grinned at finally being the first to rise.

"Hey, Chuuya," he crowed with a giggle and marched up to the sleeping figure. "Time to get up!"

His partner stirred not an inch.

"Come on, you slug," Inari again cajoled then nudged the boy playfully with his foot, "wakey-wakey, eggs and -." He stopped.

Again – no reaction.

"Chuuya?" the boy rasped worriedly then knelt and looked into his partner's slack face, half-expecting a tell-tale smirk but didn't find one.

The morning silence seemed to turn cold and solid, imprisoning the Wave Country boy in its amber.

"QUIT IT, Chuuya," Inari barked harshly then poked his teammate hard in the chest, "it's not funny."

When the boy still didn't react, Inari froze, his breath racing as he tried to remember some of the basic first aid Haku had taught him, but the harder he tried the more distant his sensei's lessons became. Frantically, he checked Chuuya's breathing but didn't feel it then listened for a heartbeat but couldn't hear one.

Inari gulped, chest constricting, eyes darting wildly. "No," he cried shrilly as a different kind of fear overtook him, "oh, no!"

For long moments, the boy paced helter-skelter across Naruto's room, lurching one way then another until an idea at last took hold.

"Hold on, Chuuya, I…I'll go get help!" the ten-year old explained in a panic as he fought to throw on his white turtleneck and teal overalls over his underclothes then grabbed his floppy hat, hopping around and tripping over himself the whole time. "I'll be back in a minute, just a minute, ok?"

Inari wheeled toward the door, misjudged it and slammed his shoulder hard against the jamb. "OW!" he yelped, staggering back, wincing and grabbing his arm. "Hold on, ok?"

With a touch more caution, the ten-year old weaved his way out of the room, fled the aerie apartment then bolted down the stairs to the Leaf Village streets below.

* * *

**Aya**

After delivering the sample contagion Haku had brought to the lab technicians, Aya had hardly a moment to spare wondering if she'd done the right thing before the Mist Village's hospital was suddenly swarmed with incoming patients.

"Monsters," is what some of the battered shinobi were saying, "enemy ninja."

_The Mist Village…is under attack?_ The girl felt sick herself at the thought which only worsened at the idea that maybe she had unwittingly played a part in this but her sensei had always told her not to jump to conclusions. Besides, with so many wounded being dropped at her doorstep, now was hardly the time.

Burying her doubts, the kunoichi set to work, focusing her efforts on helping her medical team sort out the most gravely wounded among them. Hours passed in a blur as Aya rushed from patient to patient, pausing only when tremors shook the building, then again as she passed a cot occupied by a chunin who'd been pierced with senbon.

_It doesn't mean anything,_ she told herself. _Lots of ninjas use them._

The young woman broke away from a hurried conference with a pair of her colleagues only to be brought up short by a white-masked figure. Deeply preoccupied, Aya moved automatically to go around him but the stranger sidestepped to intercept her.

The medical-ninja looked up into the shadowed eye-sockets of the ANBU's zodiac mask, the kind of mask she herself had worn as a member of Toru Yamashite's pack.

"Please come with us," said the shinobi in polite but commanding tones as Aya became aware of the man's partner immediately behind her.

_That's it,_ she realized in a moment of strange, calm clarity. _I'm dead._

One part of her mind was already formulating what she might say in her defense in the unlikely event that she be granted the opportunity to do so when the other ANBU added: "Bring your gear."

The kunoichi deduced in that moment that these two were not here because she'd aided Haku.

"We're a little busy here," she pointed out as she tested the theory. "Can't you see?"

"It's the Mizukage," the ANBU answered, "something's wrong."

Aya's mouth dropped open then she rushed to retrieve her field medical kit. Sweat beaded on her brow.

_Haku,_ the young woman couldn't help but think. There was no way this was all just coincidence. _What have you done!_

* * *

**Naruto**

A day passed; an entire day without light. The promised sun never did rise, not really. A pale, reddish glow swelled at the world's edge then clawed its way across a section of the sky having never once peeked through the billows of adamant gray. That had been it.

After a forced surge of energy, Naruto vowed to scour this speck of an island for anything useful…or anything period, but after several fruitless hours spent combing the beach then every inhospitable inch of the barren interior even the dauntless blond was forced to concede that it had all been a waste of time.

The shirtless boy plopped down on the shoreline, hungrier than ever, close to the very spot where he'd first awakened then hung his head. He almost couldn't bear the sight of the callous, lifeless ocean here - home to neither fish, weed, algae nor any other living thing.

_Damn it,_ the young ninja cursed sullenly to himself then dug his fingers into the sterile sand, clutched a handful then cast it aside. _There's just no way outta here!_

The ocean taunted him and again Naruto thought about walking out atop it using his jutsu…but then, which direction should he go? And how long would his chakra last before he'd have to swim for it? And what if a storm came along?

The optimism that always carried him through the worst of situations fell before the observation that the odds weren't very good.

Naruto had gone through all the jutsu in his repertoire but none seemed like they would help. He'd even thought about building a raft out of shadow-clones but eventually abandoned the idea as being problematic if not completely stupid.

There was Boss Toad, he considered, but didn't think he'd be able to summon him with just _his_ chakra and wasn't sure Gamabunta or any of the others would be able to help even if he could. And after his last conversation with the Nine-Tailed Fox, Naruto didn't know if he could count on the Kyuubi's help at all, shared fate or not.

_I'm really stuck here._

Naruto had been trying to avoid the thought. It seemed so final…so helpless and whiny and yet every turn seemed to lead him right back to that one conclusion but what else was there? There was nothing to DO, no one to FIGHT!

The teenager growled. He wanted to HIT something, scream…something! Left with nothing else he crossed his arms and pouted, eyes narrowed to slits.

_Stupid Rahaman…stupid demons,_ he simmered._ When he/they/it or whatever DO decide to come for me there might not be anything left!_

Flopping flat on his back, Naruto looked up and glared at the swirling, alien clouds of wherever it was the 108 Gakidou had transported him to.

_Shikamaru's always doing this back home,_ he remembered then grimaced; a pained, disgusted frown crossing his whisker-marked face. _How useless…doing nothing! That guy's always so serious about it too._

Naruto flipped to one side in the sand and rested his head forlornly on an outstretched arm. He swore he could _feel_ himself getting skinnier.

'_I AM doing something,'_ the inscrutable, black-haired shinobi always countered whenever Naruto tried to break him away.

He never understood that.

Heaving a sigh, the blond turned back and cast his sapphire eyes again skyward.

"Doing nothing is doing something," muttered Naruto half-heartedly.

It sounded like what Haku called a _koan_ which was like a truism only with one part contradicting the other. That was supposed to make it DEEP and, like, _mystical_ with meaning or something.

_Fine, _Naruto thought and, despite hunger pangs, took it up as a challenge. He crossed his arms and scowled. _I'll just lay here and watch the freakin' clouds._

* * *

**Sakura**

"Excuse me, Miss Haruno?"

Ino and Sakura both looked toward the orderly. Tsunade had assigned her students to help out the hospital staff basically as a way to learn through observation and practice as well as study.

"Yes?" the pink-haired girl answered, deeply curious from his tone. "What is it?"

The young man shifted in his off-color scrubs. "There's this crazy little kid downstairs who wants to see you real bad."

"A kid?"

The orderly nodded having, evidently, rightly expected that a more thorough explanation would be required. "He was running around downstairs all worked up and balling his eyes out about something and he wouldn't cool down until I told him I'd go and get you."

Sakura turned to her friend. "Uh, Ino," she prevailed sweetly, "would you cover for me?"

"Sure, I guess," granted Ino who gave her a sly look. "But you owe me, right, 'billboard-brow'?"

The kunoichi mugged a grin and let the remark slide this time, only because the blond was doing her a favor.

* * *

Sakura wound her way down to the admissions lobby where she froze in disbelief. But there he was: Inari, that little black-haired kid from Wave Country, Tazuna the bridge-builder's grandson, sitting on a chair in the waiting room, slumped over with a woeful expression on his face, hat wadded up in his hands.

As the boy's eyes lifted he jumped to his feet and ran straight up to her.

"Sakura!" he greeted in a desperate voice, his cheeks flushed, dark eyes welling.

"Inari?" the mystified kunoichi replied and couldn't help but notice the ugly, swollen bruise on his jaw. "What - what are you doing here; how did you -?"

"You GOTTA come with me. I need your help!"

The girl's emerald eyes widened. "Inari, you shouldn't even -."

"Please!" the little boy cried, cutting her off. "My friend needs help. He's sick or something. Please, I-I think he's gonna DIE!"

Sakura glanced around as if someone or something nearby maybe might be able to make any of this make sense. Finding nothing, the pink-haired ninja sighed in resignation and took the boy's hand.

"I guess we'd better get going then," she concluded. What else could she do?

* * *

By the time the two reached the door to Naruto's apartment only her promise to help some poor, sick, Wave Country child named 'Chuuya' kept her anger from exploding with volcanic fury as the girl tried her best to digest the wild revelations Inari had hit her with one after another non-stop along the way.

"So you're telling me that Naruto left the village like a week ago and put you and your little friend up to making everyone think he's still here?"

The black-haired boy nodded guiltily. "I'm really, really, really sorry, Sakura. I didn't want to trick you, but Naruto said he'd get in trouble."

"You're damn right he's in trouble!" snapped Sakura who tensed her jaw then continued, shaking her head and muttering to herself: "When I see Naruto again I'm gonna hit him so hard he'll never forget." Turning toward the meek, anxious and cringing ten-year old, she raised a tightly-balled fist and assured him direly: "I'm gonna _beat_ the crazy out of him. I swear that yellow-headed idiot's done some stuff before, but THIS…and how the hell did YOU learn ninjutsu anyway?"

Inari waited until they were inside, glanced up at her, away then back again. "Don't be too mad, Sakura…please?" the black-haired boy begged. "He had a good reason."

"Uh-huh," replied the kunoichi, unconvinced as the two made their way through the apartment to Naruto's bedroom where they were greeted by the stomach-turning stench of souring upchuck. "Well, I guess that means Chuuya's alive after all."

Inari hunched and pinched his nose shut with both hands. "AGH! GROSS!"

Even Sakura, slightly accustomed to such bodily excrescences, had to wince.

"Clean that up, Inari, please," she directed the boy to get him occupied and out of the way, then moved to the pale and prostrate ten-year old laying there covered in blankets on a mound of Naruto's clothes.

Hoisting the unconscious boy up, blankets and all, and transferring him to the bed, the apprentice medical-ninja went through a standard protocol of checking his vital signs, chakra level and flow while Inari scraped most of the vomit up in a dustpan then paced out of the room to dispose of it with the vessel held at arm's length.

Sakura frowned, crossed her palms, then laid them on the motionless boy's tummy, using jutsu to add a little of her chakra to his. She then raised her hands over her patient, tracking the energy as it flowed through his system.

"Inari," she queried, having noted the boy's return, "how long's he been sick?"

"Just since this morning when he didn't get up," Inari piped softly, looking up from where he knelt on his hands and knees, dutifully scrubbing away at a spot on the floor, then added in response to her doubtful look, "honest."

The pink-haired girl turned back and steepled her hands with concern.

"Is he gonna be ok?"

Sakura frowned. "He's very sick, Inari. I thought at first that it might be something like a bad flu or food-poisoning, but it's nothing like that."

"Can you fix him?"

Sakura's face remained frozen in thought for a time before she finally declared: "I've got to get him to the hospital."

"NO!" squealed Inari in a panic. "You can't! Please Sakura, no one can -."

"HEY!" the kunoichi shouted back then silenced him with a ferocious, green-eyed glare. "You and your friend's mission is OVER, Inari. You never should have snuck in here in the first place. Naruto just taking off on his own has GOT to be the stupidest thing he's ever done, and getting you kids involved makes it even worse!"

The Wave Country boy's expression quivered. "Please, Sakura," he prevailed in heart-wrenching desperation. "Naruto had a really, really good reason, I swear! And we promised him we'd take care of his place and no one would find out and he should be back any minute now. Please, isn't there any other way?"

Sakura gave an exasperated, emotional flinch before she gathered herself then set forth in cool explanation: "Inari, I know you and Naruto mean well; I know that. But this is serious!" The girl gestured at Chuuya. "Your friend is very sick and I don't know how to help him."

Inari's eyes wandered desperately before again searching out Sakura's. "Please, Sakura," he began, "I…I don't want anything to happen to Chuuya but I don't want Naruto to get in trouble just 'cause of us. And I know Chuuya doesn't either. And you're, well, you're Naruto's partner; you're his friend too. You don't really want him to get in trouble either do you?"

The girl's eyes widened, fell then looked away.

All-in-all her sensei, Lady Tsunade, was a pretty good sport when it came down to it, owing probably to her own 'colorful' background and interests. But what Naruto had done went way past anything that she, or any Hokage, could just overlook or let go with a talking-to or slap on the wrist. Technically, her partner was guilty of _desertion_ at the very least no matter what his intentions, and that WAS serious.

"Please?" the boy persisted.

Sakura returned with a determined stare and vowed to lay down the law but as she looked into the little boy's dark eyes and hopeful, innocent face, she saw Naruto's face too and her resolve wavered.

"I will try ONE thing," she found herself saying despite every wiser inclination. "If it doesn't work then we take Chuuya right to the hospital, come clean about everything and I don't want to hear one more word about it."

The reprieved boy's eyes lit with relief and he nodded eagerly which only made his reluctant savior feel like that much more the fool.

_Thanks, Naruto, _thought Sakura who bit her lip worriedly._ Now I'M about to do the stupidest thing I've ever done._

* * *

_Thanks for reading!_

_-Jono'_


	24. The Wonders of the Deep Part 3

_Hi, and welcome back again. I know it's starting to take awhile between updates. Do you think I need to provide a little recap at the beginning of every chapter to refresh readers on what's going on - like what they did in the Akira manga with a little synopsis of what happened in the previous episode, or no?_

_Hope you like chapter 24!_

* * *

**The Manatee**

Yashako, limping along through the emptied streets with a scowl on her tattooed face, couldn't help but mark this as one of the most truly fucked up days in her entire life. The simple mission she'd been assigned had turned into an utter failure, remarkable in its way even among the ninja-world's long and storied history of utter failures.

Her teammate, Yamada: dead. And, worst of all:

_Beaten, _she simmered darkly_, me! Beat up by some stupid little punk kid._

Yashako Ueda - she hailed from no clan, held no noble lineage, but the woman WAS one of the Seven Legendary Swordsmen of the Mist. How long had it been since she'd tasted defeat? How long since she'd been confronted by any obstacle her deft pair of ghost-head broadswords couldn't slice out of her way?

Absorbed as she was in the depths of her own personal drama, the swordswoman couldn't help but notice a change in the air. It had always been there - a certain sense of angst pervading these streets. It hung upon Kirigakure's shoulders like an old shroud, heavy but reassuringly familiar at the same time, constant, she'd come to understand, throughout generations. But it was as if that garment had suddenly been shrugged off, replaced by a wilder, more generalized and instinctive fear.

A trio of village women with overstuffed baskets in hand scurried past at a hurried but discreet pace, keeping close to the wall. They then turned quickly down an alleyway before disappearing like mice.

_Oh, I get it, _thought Yashako with a sneer as she watched them go. _ONE little monster shows up in the Mist Village and all of a sudden our air of invincibility is gone. Us ninjas are all puny and weak and it's the end of the fuckin' world. Run! Hide! Fill your pantries with bread and milk and nail the doors shut._

_How ridiculous, how pathetic._

The woman stopped there in the street. Her lower lip quivered with outrage.

_I hope it's true. I hope more monsters just like that one are on the way._

"A good war's just the thing you lazy little fuckers need," the kunoichi muttered darkly before continuing on her way. "You've all gotten way too soft."

But as the bruise on her hip pulled against her stride, the ugly thought assailed her: that maybe she had too.

After all, if her confidence hadn't been shaken just a little then what was she doing creeping in the direction of the Friary Hill tenements instead of staying close to the Piazza del Carne where everyone was busy standing watch or clearing away the wreckage? Why was she, all of a sudden, going to see The Manatee?

* * *

Her unpromising path wound past meat-markets and fishmongers where garishly displayed carcasses both terrestrial and nautical in origin were hung up for sale, through desperate slums then where people lived in a primitive state suggestive of ages gone-by, up fire escapes of rusting iron and down stairways of ancient stone that lead at last to the Coral Pavilion which rose like a dream from a shimmering, glass-like pool that reflected both it as well as the shabby apartment buildings that bounded it.

Yashako narrowed her gaze as she looked across the water, noting the stout, lacquered beams and corbelled brackets adorned with gold filigree vine-work, intricate geometrics, dragons and creatures of the deep sea all supported on the vivid red-orange columns that gave the almost mythical building its name.

_Pretty,_ she considered utterly without sentiment but still couldn't make up her mind if it was real or not…or indeed any of the strange twists and turns, the people or the sights she'd seen along the way. Coming here was always like this – different every time. It had almost become a game to her to see if she could tell where reality stopped and the old man's genjutsu began.

The jonin glanced down at her reflection in the luminous, too-flat, too-shiny water and noted her dark-hued, pissed-off, tattooed face. The water seemed real enough that she thought to walk across it rather than take the long way across a wooden footbridge that zigzagged hither and thither before finally coming to rest.

_A tease or a trap,_ Yashako had always thought.

Anyone brazen enough to cross that water clearly had either no manners or no sense and would probably be dispensed with as an intruder. On the other hand, anyone entering the proper way by the bridge's winding path would give the pavilion's sole occupant more than enough time to prepare for whoever it might be.

Shrugging with begrudging acceptance, the kunoichi brought her impatience to heel and set forth over the bridge which felt real enough under her feet. As Yashako made her way across it became an act of will to stroll rather than stride. As always she was in a hurry. It was her nature.

Arriving at last, the swordswoman removed her weapons and left them outside along with her boots before she donned awaiting slippers and passed within where a scarred, squat figure sat on a padded mat atop a wooden floor that had been polished to a mirror shine. Yashako's eyes drifted over the man's hulking, sagging shoulders and back that still held the muscular suggestions of his former stature, then the scabrous gash occupied once by his right eye, the blind, clouded-over sphere of his left, the hard, rounded mountain of his voluminous stomach, all of which lead down to the thick, blunt stumps where his legs used to be.

In truth he was not that old, only in his mid-forties, yet there was a saying that it wasn't the years that mattered, it was the mileage. Whether that was true or not for a ninja, this one had lived longer than most - a deformed Buddha who remained a living monument to the hazards of ninja life and a testament to the transformative power of bad decisions.

"I realize it must be killing you," the figure greeted amiably enough in a drifting, mellow baritone, "waiting for me to speak first."

Yashako frowned at having her complicated sensibilities tweaked.

"Yamada is dead," she reported bluntly. She'd thought to provoke a reaction, her way of taking control, but ended up disappointed.

"Yes, I saw that the thread of his life had ceased."

"Wait," spat the swordswoman caustically, unexpectedly off-balance, "you KNEW he was going to die?"

The Manatee's massy head tilted in concession. "It knew it was a possibility."

"And you didn't think to pass it on?"

The man shrugged. "Death is always a possibility," he explained in a tone that was almost patronizing. "It comes with our profession. Even you, dear Yashako with your skills, are not invulnerable." A teasing smile escaped him. "For instance: your brother swordsman Momochi's young apprentice might have killed you just now."

The kunoichi gave him a pained look then grinned, showing filed teeth, knowing she was being baited. "And how exactly would he have accomplished THAT?"

"By freezing you solid with his kekkei-genkai then kicking your fool head off your shoulders. See? There's always a chance even if it's small."

Yashako frowned. It was hard not to be put off a little by her elder shinobi's insight.

"You still might have _done_ something," she snapped, looking pained as she folded her wiry-muscled arms.

The crippled ninja's chest rose and fell. "I tried to use my abilities to change the future once. You can see where that got me."

"Ah, don't give me that, Sensei!" she contended with a scowl. "There's nothing mystical or dangerous about your awareness let alone USING it; you just fucked up is all. Getting in Hoshigake's way, partner or not, I mean, that's just plain stupid."

The silence that answered her was thick as paste and made Yashako wonder if she'd gone too far. She adjusted her arms, braced them on her hips then turned to look out across the surrounding waters and the squalor encamped on the farther shore: garish, hand-painted advertisements peeling off the walls of mineral-stained tenements; bright laundry fluttering on clotheslines. Was all that an illusion too?

"Alright, alright," the swordswoman half-way acknowledged at last, "you don't have to get in a MOOD."

"A mood?" the man intoned with saccharine sweetness. "Me? You're the one who got her ass whupped so bad that you're willing to pay your crippled old teacher a visit after all these years."

Yashako grimaced. She probably had that coming.

"But don't let your defeat keep you up at night. That little blond boy you faced is a _jinchuuriki._"

The tattooed kunoichi struggled for a moment to recall what the word meant then shot him a look. "You're kidding? A cheval? Like that kid who went missing awhile back?" she replied in amazement, using a broader and more archaic term. "Whose is he?"

"By process of elimination, probably the Leaf's."

A slow, contemplative breath seeped from the woman.

"I see." Yashako blinked then nodded. It all made much more sense now. "We're at war then."

The Manatee's cynical smile brought her no comfort. "Oh, no, Yashako, it's much, much worse than that."

* * *

**Kiba**

The afternoon wind sighed as Kiba limped his way home along the tree-lined streets, a dog-tired Akamaru cradled in his arms. What hurt worse than the bumps and bruises earned in training was knowing how much time he'd wasted and how much that had set him back.

He'd coasted, COASTED, for so long.

All during his academy days Kiba had always been among the fastest; always excelling, always overpowering with his athleticism, agility and abilities that came naturally to those of the Inuzuka clan. And of course while he'd been slacking everyone else had been working, training, learning, and pushing themselves to move beyond their limitations as any decent ninja should.

The Chunin Exams _should_ have been a wake-up call. His loss in the very first round of personal contests to Naruto Uzumaki, the oddest, smallest and unlikeliest of any ninja ever to come along had been a little hard to take. And THEN to see him go on to accomplish…truly incredible things _should_ have been enough to light a fire under Kiba's ass.

_Should _have.

But it wasn't until only recently when the Hokage had ordered him to protect that visiting mist-ninja, some girlish string-bean under the (in hindsight, _obviously_) fake name of Hiroo Okame, that the sum of all the genin's failures and lackluster record of late finally caught up with him, hitting the teenager hard and square in the face with the cold, uncomfortable realization – that he was** second rate.**

How the hell was he going to protect his village, thought Kiba, berating himself, the question gnawing at him inside, make his clan proud or inspire a girl like Hinata Hyuuga? Maybe more important than any of that: didn't he owe _himself_ a chance to reach his potential – a potential few, if any, even thought he _had_ anymore?

Kiba's jaw tensed. He couldn't help but feel a little queasy at his situation every time he thought about it but, really, he had only himself to blame.

_Yesterday's done,_ the words floated through the young ninja's head, a silent promise, _but tomorrow's still up to me._

"Hi, uh, Kiba?"

The teenager stopped dead and almost jumped as the sound jerked him back from the chasms of thought. His startled face snapped up to look into beautiful emerald-green eyes as the genin found himself nose-to-nose with Sakura Haruno who he'd almost walked carelessly right into.

_Wake up, stupid!_ thought Kiba, even more annoyed with himself. _Those so-called wolf-like senses of yours don't work for shit when your brain's out to lunch._

"Oh, uh…hey, Sakura," the genin acknowledged, took a BIG backward step to establish a more socially-agreeable distance, grinned awkwardly then pulled the fur-fringed hood of his grey jacket down to rub the back of his head.

The change in the rhythms of his movement made Akamaru stir a bit in the crook of his arm then yawn.

"Sorry, I guess I wasn't paying attention."

The pink-haired girl returned a tight smile and nodded, uncharacteristically hesitant and ill at ease.

"So…I guess you've been training early, huh?" she ventured. "You look pretty banged up."

Kiba nodded with curiosity at his classmate's oddly clunky and forced observation.

His mom was always saying how her son wasn't the 'sharpest kunai in the armory' but he was pretty sure Sakura didn't come out this way, way out of her way, just for small talk.

Nevertheless: "Yeah…yeah," the ninja confirmed obligingly, "Kurenai-sensei set me up with some new training partners, old friends of hers and stuff from back in the day."

That was the summarized version of the brutal ass-kicking he'd been handed over the last couple of weeks but, on the other hand, he was starting to master some new jutsu: deeper clan secrets 'mother dear' had taught him, and starting to hold his own against much more serious guys which was the whole idea. Being defeated by low-lifes like Sakon and Ukon, having to be rescued by Kankuro, watching loyal Akamaru almost die and, most recently, feeling just slightly outclassed by some skinny backwater constable (even if the guy HAD been some big-shot mist-ninja's sidekick) was NOT going to happen again…in _this_ lifetime or any other! Never!

"Great," Sakura offered with approval though, again, with a somewhat distracted quality in her voice, "great."

_Ugh,_ Kiba sighed to himself, _girls! Can't any of you just get to the point?_

"So," he offered, arriving at the idea that he would have to, "what brings you out here?"

Sakura shifted back and forth, tensed for a moment then let whatever reservations she had go all in a gush. "You," she admitted then fixed him with a look. "I was looking for you. I kind of need your help."

The teenager's face went blank for a moment but he nodded almost immediately after that. "Well, sure, Sakura, you got it. Anything you need. If it's that important you don't even have to ask."

The kunoichi smiled with relief. "It's a little complicated though," she went on to explain with an air of suppressed intrigue that turned a little intense when she added: "and you've got to _swear_ that you won't tell anyone."

Kiba, weary from brutal training, perked up; senses sharp. That Sakura would seek _his_ help, given that she had almost the entire village to choose from, was quite a compliment; also - this could be something really, really _juicy_.

And it turned out he wasn't wrong.

In slightly distraught, slightly aggravated tones, the girl went on to explain how Naruto had left Konoha a week ago to rush off to parts unknown on some personal crusade or other and left in his place a pair of little-kid friends of his from Wave Country to fool people into thinking he was still here. The problem was: one of them had gotten terribly sick, and the other had talked HER into helping!

_No…WAY!_

Kiba stood there staring, dumbfounded for a moment before:

"Alright! Leave it to Naruto!" cheered Kiba in amazement, impressed and even just slightly envious. His own reaction surprised him but there was no containing it; the feeling came straight from deep down.

_That guy, _he continued in reluctant admiration, _THAT crazy little blond freak's got some BALLS; maybe the only one in the whole village who does!_

The boy's wild, wolfish eyes went wide, a grin split his face and he barked out a gusty, delighted laugh but then reigned himself back as he took notice of the anxious, discomfited look overtaking Sakura.

Though what she'd told him was probably the funniest, craziest thing he'd ever heard, one thing he'd learned since he'd started spending more time with Hinata was that girls wanted, even expected, YOU to take the things they took seriously as seriously as they did even if it was hilarious.

Kiba considered this for a moment, straightened then cleared his throat.

"I mean, uh," he offered instead in measured, professional tones as he stroked his whiskerless chin, "yes, I see. That's quite a conundrum."

Though Sakura shot him a glance for the odd word and odder gesture, she seemed a little more reassured.

The teenager then gave the pink-haired kunoichi a big, white, winning and fangy smile. "Well, don't worry about it!" he proclaimed like a veritable knight of olde. "We can handle this and, I swear to you, no one will ever know."

* * *

**Aya**

Sweating, shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, dizziness, nausea…Aya could have elaborated further on the symptoms she was experiencing but didn't need more than that to diagnose a _wicked_ panic attack.

The young ninja, with head bowed and medical bag clutched to her chest, walked along the canals flanked by two zodiac-masked ANBU who conducted her past the checkpoints to a cascade of weathered, stone steps that lead up like canyon walls to the ornate fortress that was the Mizukage's Palazzo.

She'd never _ever_ been here before.

Her late sensei, Toru Yamashite, having recognized Aya's talents but fearing that she would not survive the brutality of the curriculum had conscripted her from the Mist's Martial School to serve with his hunter-pack prior to the final tests and had been diligent about keeping her away from the Village's upper echelons ever since.

The wily captain had probably saved Aya's life but that didn't help her now that she was headed into the proverbial belly of the beast to treat Kirigakure's master, Lord Oku. Although a mist-ninja herself, a chunin no less, she'd spent most of her time afield and so Kirigakure no Sato, to which she'd pledged her loyalty and her life, seemed almost like a foreign land.

The girl's mind roiled with emotion, stomach twisting in knots. Every horrifying tale Toru had ever spun about the savagery of the old-school shinobi came alive: the extermination of the blood-gifted clans; the pathological and murderous Seven Swordsmen; and then the Fourth Mizukage's crumbling psyche following Zabuza's coup – a descent into paranoia that lead to his purges of the Mist Village's senior ranks which had included, appallingly, Aya's own sensei.

Deep breaths weren't helping.

As she climbed, the colonnaded façade of the ancient building loomed up before her in accusing majesty like a jury of gods. It was impossible not to think of the blood shed here over the years and all the fierce battles that had taken place.

Aya cringed then as she felt a presence, an unforgettable chakra that sent a shiver down her spine and made her dark eyes go wide.

_It's him, _she knew at once, _the emissary._ Swallowing hard, the medical-ninja corrected herself: _the executioner!_

If Aya's white-masked guardians noticed at all, they didn't seem to as they escorted her through the grand, open portals into the palace's entry hall where the Mizukage's loyalists had once made what must have seemed like their final stand before Zabuza and his army of insurgents. In place of their ghosts Lord Oku's new praetorians stood vigil around the frescoed walls two ranks deep - numbers that struck even Aya as seeming a touch desperate. But standing in the center of the room, commanding it, as silent and terrifying as a temple guardian, loomed Krishenay Rahaman.

The kunoichi's eyes sank, unable to stand the sight of him - this monstrous ninja who'd murdered her sensei and heaven knows how many others at Lord Oku's call.

Thankfully, they did not remain here long.

Down corridors adorned with murals and statuary then around courtyards framing formal gardens and babbling fountains the ANBU guided Aya to the residential wing of the Palazzo. There in a salon that served as both lobby and entry control point, a rogues gallery of jonin waited – those few to survive their master's witch-hunts.

Weapons of all shapes and sizes bristled and gleamed. Eyes flickered up at their entrance, some from behind masks, through dark glasses, tangles of hair or between gaps in bandages. Before such baleful scrutiny it was hard not to feel a little self-conscious.

One of these shinobi, a stern-looking, one-eyed man named Ao who Aya remembered meeting before though it had been years ago, broke away from a guarded conversation he'd been having in a remote corner of the room with a truly astonishingly-beautiful woman. The young medical-ninja couldn't help but take in with a glance the older kunoichi's striking green eyes, perfect, porcelain skin and cascade of lush, auburn hair that flowed down past the woman's knees. Somehow...SOMEHOW, she managed to seem aluring even in bulky blue mist-ninja fatigues.

_Mei Terumi! _The name came to Aya in a flash.

Toru had talked about her in graphic and sometimes nauseatingly-_porno_graphic detail, but his lurid and often vulgar praise of her paled truly before the reality.

_It's no wonder SHE made it through the purge,_ Aya started to think then shoved it aside.

The assumption that Mei's looks alone had saved her was probably unfair and just a little catty since she didn't really know her.

Ao, for his part and by all accounts, was unquestionably loyal and (unlike her own late sensei) the very model of propriety and moral uprightness.

One thing that did surprise her though was his ensemble – a jade robe worn over a ribbed, ochre turtleneck very similar in style to what Haku used to wear before Zabuza's death. Having _hunted_ the pair on and off for two years, Aya couldn't help but notice.

Beyond that though the man's shock of blue hair trimmed to a forward facing chisel-point, the stark black patch covering his right eye, imposing manner and, above all, his humorless expression were all more than enough to drive away any further comparisons with the much younger, more delicate and feminine Demon's Apprentice.

Those odd paper talismans, fashioned as earrings, which dangled from the Captain's lobes being (maybe) the only exception.

"Miss Sakamoto," Ao greeted with unflinching formality as he offered the slightest, stiffest bow, "we appreciate you're coming on short notice and with so much happing."

"Captain Ao, it's a pleasure to see you again. I wish it could be under more agreeable circumstances."

The girl congratulated herself on matching the dour shinobi's perfect, professional tone despite how hard it was not to stare at his eye-patch. As a medical ninja she really should be able to take the sight of such common injuries like that in stride. Still she couldn't help but harbor an irrepressible curiosity about how he'd lost it.

Ao nodded gruffly, dismissed the two ANBU guards with a nod, turned then strode away. Aya hurried to join in beside him, ending up eventually at the door to the Mizukage's suite of private rooms.

"We have a problem," the man explained. "Lord Oku complained about feeling tired then retired to his chambers. That was two days ago and we fear something has befallen him. The Mizukage's health has, on rare occasions, been something of a challenge."

The kunoichi nodded, understanding both the euphemism and the need for it. His report explained why their leader had not made an appearance since the attack on the village earlier.

"Yes, Captain Ao," answered Aya dutifully, "but I don't understand why I was called. The Mizukage has a whole team of private physicians, or so I'd always thought."

Ao gave a signal to sentries stationed at the ends of distant wings at which they retracted hidden bolts secreted in the Mizukage's door. He then dropped his hand to the handle.

"I should say," the jonin continued, ignoring her implied question, "that he gave very specific instructions not to be disturbed."

Aya stiffened. Lord Oku had ordered her master Toru Yamashite killed on suspicion alone. How the hell was he going to react to outright insubordination?

"I understand your reservations," Ao continued without much emotion. "Still, this village cannot function without a leader. Now especially is a terrible time for any disruption in the chain of command. To make matters worse, councilor Inoue is still abroad in Wave Country and Lord Hirai, though said to be at his villa here for the Ascension Ceremonies, has yet to be located.

"If Lord Oku has indeed fallen ill, I trust you have the power to restore him. Whatever the case, I know from your previous assignment with the ANBU that you will exercise proper judgment and discretion."

The man's resolute expression gave her a little confidence but this still seemed like something of a set-up the kind of which Pack-Leader Yamashite and her teammate Orimi Hirai had warned her against – Mist Village intrigue that she should best keep clear of.

Though stricken with doubt, it didn't seem as if she had a choice.

Ao opened the door and guided the medical-ninja through a maze of rooms, each more ornate than the last, until they came to the Mizukage's chamber where the ninja-captain neutralized a full dozen hidden traps completely invisible to her eyes. How HE was able to detect them, jonin or not, seemed almost magical.

Opening the last double door, a crack of light shot across the floor of the darkened room and up the far wall then broadened into a path that fell over a magnificent four-posted bed shrouded with drawn curtains.

Ao nodded firmly – a gesture indicating at the same time that the way was clear and that Aya should proceed at once.

The young woman crept nervously to the bed, parted the curtain and looked down at the face of her lord - the same man who'd ordered her sensei's death not so long ago.

It wasn't what she'd expected.

_So young,_ she thought.

Lord Oku was twenty-six, only four years older than her, and there was much of him that looked it – a still-boyish quality around his cheeks; the stubble on his face a little patchy. But there was more than enough there to testify to the rigors of his life and troubled mind: lines around his eyes; his thicket of black hair already going grey, the tense set of his worried lips.

Aya looked knowingly toward his neck and saw the little white scar – such a thin, pale line that the very tip of Demon of the Hidden Mist's massive zanbato sword had left.

The young kunoichi's hand went to her own throat in sympathy.

After the Fourth's sudden departure, Lord Oku had been installed by Kirigakure's councilors, a handful of powerful daimyo and a star chamber of jonin. It occurred to her now that the man, the _young_ man, might not have been ready for the job and remembered the pressure she'd felt all those years ago at suddenly finding herself part of an ANBU Hunter-Pack while only a cadet. How much worse must it have been for him!

But…to business: Aya didn't need years of medical training and even more years practicing field medicine to notice that this was not the face of a dead man. There was warmth in it and color. Lord Oku was breathing. Air seeped in and out though his dry, slightly-parted lips, clearly in time to the regular rising and falling of his chest.

Aya allowed herself a nervous grin at the idea that all the concern that Captain Ao had expressed to her may have been misplaced. Still, it seemed that there was something amiss.

"Lord Oku?" said the girl, as she resorted to the obvious and tried to rouse him.

She reached for his arm then nudged the Mizukage gently but received no response.

Puzzled, Aya pulled down the covers and gasped as she saw the pattern of intricate characters carved freshly by the Mizukage's own hand in into the skin of his chest and arms.

"Oh!" she startled then, realizing Ao was watching, quickly composed herself and went back to work.

Summoning her chakra, the medical-ninja held her palms crossed over her patient's chest then stiffened in shock.

"You have something to report, Miss Sakamoto?"

Aya gulped as she tried to regain her composure.

"Lord Oku, the Fifth Mizukage of the Village Hidden in the Mist," she offered in a tone it took an effort of will to maintain, "is dead, and has been for at least a day." The kunoichi fell quiet, fully expecting to be contradicted. "The apparent vitality of his body you see is-is only a mockery of life – the physical processes kept working by the power of a ninja spell he has cast upon himself!"

Captain Ao nodded. "I see," he said with not a trace of surprise in his voice. "As a specialist in medical ninjutsu, what do you recommend?"

"We should -," she began to say then stopped.

"Yes, please continue."

"We should…we should break the jutsu that's keeping his body functioning then at once conduct an examination to determine the cause of death."

Ao looked over the markings on his master's body. "This is a Dao magic I see," the ninja observed. "Do you know how to counter it?"

"I've seen it before. I don't fully understand how it works but I know all the characters have to be precise."

The young woman produced a scalpel from her medical kit and with it made the tiniest alteration in one of the hundreds of scarred characters on Lord Oku's arm. With that simple act the Mizukage died.

Aya bit her lip. Though his spirit, the animating force behind the ninja lord's chakra, had gone, in a way SHE had just killed the Fourth Mizukage.

Her breath began to race.

"Captain Ao, we should get Lord Oku to the laboratory as quickly as possible!"

"Of course," agreed the jonin who then added pointedly, "unless the cause of his death might be determined by other means."

Flustered at her superior's puzzling change in tone, the kunoichi shook her head. "I don't understand."

Ao smiled grimly. "I'm not at all convinced of that. You see, something quite strange happened earlier today. You must have heard about it – how our village was attacked by a team of four enemy ninja. Of them, and you may or may not know this, one remains unidentified, another possesses the power of one of the tailed beasts…a chakra monster of tremendous power, the third is Haku – the traitor Zabuza Momochi's disciple. Last was a member of the Tsujita Clan thought to have died out at the end of the civil wars; a clan that possesses a peculiar kekkei-genkai that allows them to store and inflict disease at will.

"That's quite a diverse and chilling cast of characters in league against us, but it's _Haku_ who puzzles me the most…considering that he was not just reported but confirmed dead; confirmed by a team of elite ANBU Hunter-Ninjas that included Captain Toru Yamashite, Eiji Tohei, Orimi Hirai, Yukimasa Sakurai…and YOU."

Something within Aya plunged. The firmament had given way and darkness was rising to meet her.

The older mist-shinobi canted his head. "I'm sure you can see what I'm getting at. And I can't help but wonder whose remains those are that your team brought back from Wave Country, because they're certainly not Haku's."

A sultry voice issued from the doorway. "Captain Ao," it interrupted and Aya whirled to find Mei Terumei leaning against the casing. "We both know that Toru the Akita was a little on the eccentric side but hardly a traitor. I'm sure there's more to the story."

Aya's breath slowed almost to a stop.

So that was why she specifically had been summoned here – not to treat a patient who was already dead but to face an inquisition. And even though the mesmerizing, goddess-like Mei was obviously cast as the 'good cop', with her sympathetic smile and carefree demeanor, there was suddenly something about her that Aya found much more terrifying than the gruff and heartless 'bad cop' Captain Ao.

A stir from outside drew a flicker of their attention at which Aya bolted, fleeing desperately from the room. So pathetic was the gesture that Mei let her pass uncontested while Ao only chuckled.

"You can't escape!" his authoritative voice echoed behind her.

Hallways and courtyards whirred past in her blind, reckless haste, and no one stopped her. Aya, in her confusion, took a wrong turn and had to backtrack and _still_ no one stopped her. She ran, almost stumbling, at last into the grand foyer at the entrance to the Mizukage's Palazzo and there Captain Ao and all the other jonin waited but even now, having headed her off, the man let her by.

Aya slowed to a stop all on her own then raised her hands to her shocked face, for the room was littered with bodies. That was all that remained of the larded ranks of Lord Oku's praetorian.

The late Mizukage's emissary, Krishaney Rahaman, was nowhere in sight.

Automatically, as if in a trance, Aya knelt over one of the fallen, appalled at the horrorstruck expression on his face.

"Drained," she muttered to herself as Captain Ao approached. "Drained completely of chakra."

A delicate hand came to rest on her shoulder.

"Miss Sakamoto…Aya," said Mei with subtle, gentle urgency. "It would be best if you told us everything you know."

* * *

**Naruto**

Grey swirled within grey, the distant vapors flowing like grimy watercolor.

Naruto pinched his eyes shut. He'd stared so long at the otherworldly sky that it actually seemed like the clouds were responding to his thoughts while the earth under him evaporated into the ether.

The experience was starting to mess with his head.

The young ninja sighed from where he lay bare-chested in the sand on the beach of his tiny, island prison, drowsy from boredom and weak from hunger. Suddenly, his blue eyes popped wide at a peculiar, almost forgotten sensation - unexpected wetness at his pants.

"What the HELL!" he startled and scrambled furiously to his feet.

Being thirteen, he was a little old to be having 'accidents' but was way too far from the water's edge to blame the tide.

Naruto felt the seat of his borrowed mist-ninja fatigues and was distressed at the unmistakable saturation…although this was distinctly cold, not warm, and in the back, not the front.

"Aw, MAN!" the blond lamented then looked down as he noticed the little pool of water that sat in the shallow impression his butt had made in the sand.

From that pool, a trail of dark ran down the beach as far as the boy could see.

Naruto's yellow eyebrows knitted as he took a step back then rose in surprise as a trickle from the pool moved to follow him.

"Hey," he protested then advanced at which the water retreated.

Stepping sideways, wary but intensely curious now, he watched the leading edge of the water match him.

To test a theory Naruto leaped back, up to the rocky flats that comprised most of the little island then scurried back three full strides.

The trickle of water followed him, flowing _uphill_ where needed in defiance of physics at its own steady, languid pace then gathered slowly around his booted feet.

"Hold on a sec'."

The ninja took a forward step then stopped and watched as the water caught up then passed him.

"You," he ventured quizzically, "you want me to _follow_ you?"

The water declined to answer or even spell anything out in the sand as Naruto hoped it might, but only flowed away as the teenager trailed after it.

_This sure is crazy on TOP of crazy, _he couldn't help but think, slightly glum from all that had happened since Kirigakure. _But it's not like I got anything else to go on._

The blond ninja, still not totally sold on the possible virtues of this development, followed the water along the beach for the better part of half a mile before he watched it make a hard left then vanish into the wet sand and surf and, beyond that, the expanse of limitless ocean.

His blue eyes bugged. His fists balled.

"Oh, well!" Naruto ranted. "That's just GREAT! NOW how the hell am I supposed to follow you?"

After a moment of consideration, the teenager frowned and marched stubbornly out into the water after it. At only his third splashing step, the world vanished out from under him and, with a gargled cry, the genin went plunging beneath the waves.

* * *

**The Fire-Tongue Fleet**

Towers of white flame rippled like banners upon the rough and rustic island's tortured face, gushing twisting towers of black into the morning sky.

From the flying bridge of his flagship, Commander Okun dropped the binoculars from his grim eyes. "Send in the clean-up teams."

His second in command passed on the order through a field radio then joined her leader at the railing. "Sir, do you really think anyone could have survived that bombardment?"

"Doubtful," Okun answered. "But the procedure exists for a reason. That's how it got to be 'procedure'."

The kunoichi nodded though it was hard to read any reaction from her face's streamlined features that looked like they'd be (and probably were) much more at home in oceanic depths.

"I forgot," she replied, "this isn't the first time the fleet's been deployed."

"Quite right. I myself was on hand for the destruction of the Tsujita, Nikai, Serizawa and Aramata clans, and even they weren't the first," he illumined, speaking slowly and distinctly to be heard over the wind and waves. "Now we're here to finish off the remnants and descendants of those who escaped."

"A historical irony."

Okun shrugged. "Not really," he opined then drew a deep breath of the salt-heavy air. Looking at the world from outside, literally a deserted island outpost, for so long had given him some insight. "Similar problems are usually answered with similar solutions no matter how many years pass in between."

The two shared a silence.

"What's our heading, sir, back home?"

Okun frowned and shook his head – one sharp, definitive sweep left then right. "While we leave four boats and a detachment of marines here to make sure there were no survivors, the rest of the fleet has one more mission to complete…on Bourou Island."

The woman puzzled in thought then gave him a disbelieving look before daring to suggest: "That _can't_ be right."

"I've checked a couple of times now so there's no mistake. It appears as if we are about to wipe out one of the most powerful ninja clans in Water Country." The Commander shared with his lieutenant a significant look. "Our next target is Hirai Castle."

* * *

**Sakura**

"This," Hana Inuzuka began matter-of-factly, glancing at the heavy-framed, black-haired boy lying in pain on her clan clinic's examination table, "is a human being." Kiba's older sister drew herself up, nodded certainly then let a long look slide back and forth between her brother and his classmate Sakura. "They taught us that in veterinary school."

Kiba took the dry (to the point of _arid_) sarcasm in stride and muscled past it. "Yeah, yeah," he brayed, "but can you help the little guy?"

Hana, even fiercer around the eyes than her sibling and sharing the same wild, dark hair and clan 'fang' tattoos on her cheeks, turned her attention to Sakura in hopes perhaps that logic would reach her.

"Is there no room at the 'people' hospital?"

"Come ON, sis'," Kiba prevailed impatiently with a sharp look and dramatic flail of his arms, "stop being a pain. Look, it's a long story but basically this kid snuck into the village and he'll be in big trouble if anyone finds out."

The young woman rolled her eyes but wavered doubtfully.

"Aw, come on. You can see for yourself he's sick. Won't you just take a look? He's already here and everything."

Sakura watched the vacillation play over the kunoichi's face but at length Hana glanced again toward the boy from Wave Country then washed her hands and put on gloves, shaking her head all the while.

Sakura and Kiba both looked on nervously, patiently while Hana conducted her examination, asked Chuuya a few quick questions then drew a blood sample over his whining protests.

"Well?" said Kiba when at last they drew together to confer. "Do you know what's wrong with him?"

"I'll have to look at the test results, but it looks like Shinrin Disease to me."

Her brother gave her an odd look. "You're kidding?"

Sakura looked back and forth between them, a little embarrassed that both of them seemed familiar with a condition she wasn't. "What's that?"

"A tick-borne illness," Hana explained. "Animals get it all the time, people too if they've been in the deep woods."

Still Sakura was baffled and shook her head. "I've never heard of it."

Hana grinned. "That's because you haven't studied pediatrics…OR veterinary medicine. Everyone in the Leaf Village gets a vaccination in infancy, domestic animals too." She looked back at Chuuya. "I suppose they don't do that in Wave Country where he's from."

"Is he going to be ok?" asked Sakura anxiously; hands clutched by her chin.

Hana nodded and gave her a buoyant smile. "Don't worry, Sakura, he'll be fine. The treatment's just a shot followed by a regimen of pills."

The pink-haired girl slumped with relief.

She and Kiba had gotten into a heated argument a couple of weeks ago about veterinary training versus medical training. Now she realized she owed the vets of the world an apology and, although it still would have been better to take the boy to Konoha's hospital, that she'd done the right thing by asking Kiba if she could bring Chuuya here.

"That's great news!" Sakura gushed. "Thanks so much, Hana. I really owe you."

The older kunoichi waved a hand. "Forget it. Do me a favor though guys – if this kid really did sneak in, get him out of here as soon as he's on his feet again ok? If anyone finds out, _especially _Lady Tsunade, the shit'll REALLY hit the fan!"

Sakura laughed a little too loud and nervously as she smiled and rubbed the back of her neck. Just _thinking_ about what her sensei's reaction would be if she ever found out about Naruto and this stunt Chuuya and Inari were pulling made her almost pass out.

"You're probably right," she said in a wavering voice.

Hana gave the genin a questioning look, blinked, then moved on: "It's funny though. I looked all over that kid and I can't find the bite mark…and the symptoms usually take weeks to develop."

* * *

**The Fire-Tongue Fleet**

From the steel decks of the four long missile-boats that remained behind, a company of blue-garbed marines poured down into the choppy sea. The figures, hard to see even in the broad daylight, danced across the waters like hummingbirds in a dream then sped over to the barren, steep and rocky shoreline where, without even a pause, they forked crisply into three detachments as they continued their race through to the inhospitable little island's high ground on paths calculated to converge upon a single point where fires raged and smoke billowed black.

The first group flew eastward through patches of hardy greenery, up jagged bluffs then out across an expanse of brittle, scrub forest, slipping easily through the stark, grey and long-fingered trees until, inexplicably, two of their number suddenly fell.

The bodies went sprawling over the unforgiving terrain before they finally came to rest never to rise again.

The remainder had no need for any further explanation: they were under attack. Still, none expressed any fear for they had trained for this. Rather than taking cover, the shinobi of the Fire-Tongue Fleet split into squads that formed a moving pattern. Speed was their friend, elusive movement made them hard to hit, and the arrangement and spacing of their elaborate, confusing patterns left no spot unobserved.

There! A flicker of odd white against grey movement through the forest drew a barrage of shuriken. Flashes of silver ripped through the trees, shredding bark and dry leaves, leaving the field littered with gleaming four-pointed stars and severed branches.

Those that knew that such an unfocussed, almost obligatory, counter would never thwart assassins clearly as skilled as the ones they faced were not disappointed as a flash erupted from then vanished back into the forest, sending two shinobis' heads spinning off into space in between.

The leader of the enterprise, a young kunoichi with a veteran's scars, pulled off the cloth that masked the lower part of her face, scowled then wove her fingers into a seal.

"Ninja art: Venomous Mist!" she announced as the air thickened with fog.

The woman's troops all knew how to breathe the vapor without it sticking in their throats and clogging their lungs and all were very well-experienced fighting with their vision obscured.

The marines slowed their pace and rearranged their groups into a new pattern designed to flush out the enemy. Tense minutes dragged into eons until a shout went up and steel clashed in the haze. Eyes darted to watch as another mist-shinobi, as deadly a fighter as there ever was, fell under an onslaught of whirling, white blades.

The enemy swordsman paused over the slashed-open body then looked up with the face of a ghoul – long, white hair draping down over a pale rictus of haunted eyes, jutting cheekbones and ivory teeth bared in a death's-head leer.

They'd all been briefed on who their enemies were – remnants of clans hunted, supposedly, to extinction years ago; clans that possessed the kekkei-genkai. Still, nothing could really prepare one for the sight of a face like that, or for the long scimitars that grew from his bony arms, elbows and shoulders as extensions of his own skeleton.

"A Kaguya!" cried one of them needlessly, for they all knew of the clan that had once waged war on Kirigakure only to be slaughtered by the Seven Swordsmen.

The ghoul vanished in a burst of speed but his element of surprise had been lost and the bright crimson spatters on his arms and blades made him easier to track.

The leader wove another seal and the earth turned to mud, a gelatinous tendril of which snared the fleeing Kaguya at the ankles and trapped him in the mire whereupon another ninja kissed the flat of a kunai, drew it back then flung.

The enemy's white-haired head snapped from the impact as the blade sank into his skull right between pale eyes. He stiffened then fell back, landing with a soft, splashing plop into the welcoming mud.

The kunoichi smiled with grim satisfaction as she nodded to her cohorts.

"Good shot, Hiro," she remarked.

The man nodded in acknowledgement.

Together, a dozen ninja in blue fatigues approached their fallen adversary wary for any surprises and stopped short appropriately.

"His hands," the kunoichi pointed out. "Look at that."

Both the pale man's hands were rigid, palms down with fingers clutched.

Hiro studied the body. "And my knife! I knew it couldn't be that easy!"

Only the very tip really seemed to have stuck and, at that moment, the blade fell from the Kaguya's face to reveal only the most minor of injuries.

Before the kunoichi, Hiro or any of the others could escape, ten white lances shot skyward from the ground, catching some in mid-air and piercing them all through from crotch to crown.

After a few seconds, the bony spines withdrew, sank back into the earth and from there back into Tensai Kaguya's fingertips leaving the bodies to fall like so many abandoned marionettes.

The ninja sat up in the mud then stood, looked down at his slain enemies without remorse or satisfaction, unknown emotions playing across his inscrutable countenance, then left the battlefield to meet up with his master who surely must have concluded matters by now.

* * *

The second group slowed as they approached the pyre – a landscape unlike any they had seen before. There had been a village here an hour ago though little trace of it remained - only foundations and broken walls amidst cauldrons of towering, white flame that burned with a prosecutorial vengeance impossible for any fire created in nature.

The ninjas fanned out, made a quick search around the perimeter then resorted to the most powerful of their water-style jutsu to explore the center of the bombarded area where the fiery explosions had already blasted away and consumed all that there was to burn. Even so, pockets of stubborn fire blazed on the baked ground as if sustained by the pure hatred of all things.

Every one of the mist's marines was on edge. Something was wrong. There were no bodies or any sign of human remains despite the fact that casualties here should have been catastrophic. That would have been bad enough in itself but there was no sign of either of the other companies that were supposed to rendezvous with them.

Their leader consulted his radio but disheartening static was its only response.

"They won't be joining you, I'm afraid," a stranger answered then wandered unafraid into their midst – an odd figure, thick of frame with a mane of tangled, ashen hair who looked almost prophetic wearing only a bathrobe and sandals when everyone in the company he addressed carried weapons, wore militant fatigues and body armor.

"One group ran into a disciple of mine with a bone to pick…so to speak," he quipped. "The other encountered the rest of the citizens of this enclave who were NOT destroyed by your attack.

"Now," the stranger went on, his confident eyes roaming from face to face, "before you count yourselves lucky that you were not in either of those groups, did you know that the human body is about sixty-percent water? That's amazing don't you think? It's particularly useful to me being that my kekkei-genkai allows me to control it."

With a gesture, the bath-robed man conjured a tidal wave that washed over the white fire surrounding the clearing. The flames clung for a bit and even began to burn the water before the spiraling surge washed them clean away, leaving scoured earth behind.

"If I'd just wanted to render you unconscious, nothing could be more simple. All I would have had to do was lower your blood pressure just a bit. A blackout. The effect is almost immediate! Spiking it high means you have a stroke or organ failure.

"Using my gift _this_ way - to freeze you all in place, effectively paralyzed but still conscious, is actually a very subtle use of my blood-gift and involves a great deal of sustained concentration. You see, I don't usually go for outright displays of power. They just seem gratuitous." He turned then glowered emphatically. "But just this once I feel the need to make a point."

That said, he wove a hand sign at which every last mist-ninjas' eyes and neck burst open in a gory geyser of blood, flesh failing under the vast internal pressures created by the power of his chakra.

Tensai Kaguya emerged from the charred edges of the clearing, across a strange tract of mud flats and paced unhurriedly to the ruins of what, this morning, had been his village. There his master waited, sitting as if in meditation upon a snapped tooth of broken, blackened masonry.

The others were just starting to arrive, carrying with them weapons they had not had an hour ago. The elders among them stared, grim faced. They had seen war, or something very like it, before. The younger ones, like Sakiko and Gennosuke, could only stand by broken-hearted. This was the only home they'd ever known.

Tensai's pale eyes came to rest then on his sensei's face.

"What now, Lord Nikai?"

The ninja patriarch's eyes slowly opened. "I don't know exactly," the man seemed to admit then gave him a chilling smile, "but I've got an idea."

* * *

**Naruto**

Struggling helplessly, blinded by stinging salt, ears aching from pressure, skin numbed from the cold, Naruto plunged into the depths of an oceanic abyss as if weighted at the ankles. With every passing instant the dappled, diffuse light rippling on the waves high above grew dimmer, more distant and out of reach of his grasping fingers.

Every bit of the genin's concentration focused on keeping in the last precious breath he'd taken no matter how badly his body wanted to release it. Bubbles leaked through his nose and clenched teeth and, before Naruto knew it, it was gone. In the freezing dark the genin felt his body descend; his hair waving in the black current.

_Hold…on!_ he urged himself, vowing to fight to the last but at this point there really didn't seem like there was much point especially now that he was having to hold his breath _out_.

A spiraling current had him now, drawing him down even faster to depths un-conceived. His chest burned; gongs sounded in his head. The young ninja convulsed and a stream of frigid salt shot up his nose then down his throat, burning like acid and that was it: the boy's reflexive gag flooded him with seawater. Naruto thrashed, his whole body rebelling with what little strength remained.

Stars filled his vision when suddenly there were arms tightening around his waist and a floor cold and solid under his feet.

The ninja's ears creaked painfully, water rushed around him then drained away as he felt himself break unexpectedly over the surface of waves into the windy air. His eyes stung with salt; water-filled lungs refused to work.

The arms encircling him, holding him up, synched tight then constricted sharply inward and up. Naruto's eyes bugged as a fountain gushed from his mouth, he gagged breathlessly then grimaced as the stranger behind him squeezed hard and without mercy again and then again.

Recovering now, gagging, ravaged by hunger and having nearly drowned, with bile and seawater coating his throat and dribbling from his lips, Naruto grabbed a slender wrist, balled a fist then smashed his knuckles against the back of the offender's hand.

Breaking free of loosened grip, the drenched blond wheeled, his looping, haymaker punch leading the way. Half-blind, the boy felt his fist slam home into a willowy arm, upraised just in time to cover the dark-haired girl's jawline.

Naruto froze, blinked and shook the brine from his blurry vision and startled.

"Haku?" he squeaked.

The taller ninja, staggered by the blow and equally water-logged, with his length of black hair plastered to his head, lowered his guard slowly then gave an awkward, uncertain smile.

"Hi, Naruto."

The blond blinked again then fought for balance as the wobbly surface on which he stood pitched one way then the other and he realized it was thick platform of ice, Haku's ice, bobbing up and down in the middle of the wild ocean.

Dripping wet and shirtless, he shivered in the chill.

"I -," Naruto began, wiped his face which broke into a weary, ragged grin. "You c-came for me."

Haku nodded half-heartedly. "It's not really me you have to thank," he explained then looked off to his left.

Standing there a stone's throw away within a sphere of perfect calm amidst the ocean waves and spray a man stood straight and strong with all the intimidating qualities of a robust old-age. Cold eyes looked out from his handsome, chiseled face beneath a mantle of silver hair.

"If you _children_ are finished with your obligatory tearful reunion, there are many, more pressing matters to attend to," he announced pointedly.

Naruto looked at him askance, cupped his hand then whispered to Haku: "Who's the g-geezer?"

Expressing a sigh of resignation, Haku proceeded with the introductions: "Naruto," he began then held out his arm toward the stranger, "this is Lord Kissohamaru Hirai, Patriarch of the Hirai clan and Councilor of the Village Hidden in the Mist. Lord Hirai," he extended the gesture towards Naruto, "Naruto."

Lord Hirai snorted at which Naruto grimaced in ire.

"Hold on!" said Naruto in relatively quiet alarm as the thought occurred to him, "isn't this that guy who wanted to burn down Wave County, the one who wanted to make YOU Mizukage?"

"The same," Haku confessed.

"Um," said the blond as he tried to still his pin-wheeling recollections, "doesn't he hate your guts for, you know, everything?"

A more or less hopeless look crossed Haku's face.

"Lord Hirai is nothing if not practical," Zabuza's apprentice reported glumly. "It suits him to aid us now. And I'm starting to realize that there is a great deal more going on with the Mist Village than I knew about before I thought to become involved in its fate." The teenager noted the old man's souring expression. "We'd better go."

Following Haku's lead, Naruto leaped over to the ninja-lord's side where the waters were held as flat and solid as glass by his jutsu.

The old man then shut his eyes, formed a seal and uttered a phrase at which all three vanished into the air.

* * *

_Well? What do you think besides that it was too long? ;)_

_Thanks for reading!_

_-Jonohex_


	25. The Wonders of the Deep Part 4

Sorry it's been so long since the last update. RL has really, really been kicking my a$$. 'And the hits just keep on comin'', as the saying goes. Anyway, I hope you find something to enjoy about these chapters 25 & 26.

Thanks much for your patience ^^

-Jono'

* * *

**Sakura**

_What on EARTH could have happened to Naruto!_ worried Sakura who sat with thoughts mired in a syrupy-thick mix of anger and anxiousness. _It's been over a week…almost TWO! What's he doing? He must have really gone __**crazy**__ thinking he could just fly off on his own personal mission._

The girl frowned and shifted, deep in preoccupation; she'd hardly been able to even think about anything else since she'd found out.

Chuuya and Inari were no help. Despite their gushing gratitude for her help the two remained steadfastly silent about anything else. This was more than little-kid obstinacy (although there were _boatloads_ of that). Both were filled with a sense of mission that could not so far be shaken by any of Sakura's efforts, whether through heartfelt pleas or outright threats, to find out anything more about what her teammate was up to. Their devotion to the yellow-headed idiot was at once maddening and yet at the same time kind of inspiring, almost heartwarming.

_Yeah…almost!_

Of course it hadn't taken much deductive effort on Sakura's part to figure out that whatever it was involved Haku. After all, both kids were from Wave Country, _someone_ who clearly had both skill and _infinite_ patience had taken the time to teach them the ninja arts, and Naruto had just returned from visiting the unlikely constable not very long ago.

_But what could be happening in Wave Country that would keep Naruto a whole week!_ the pink-haired girl continued along on a train of thought she was powerless to escape. _Even HE'S got to know that two little kids can't cover for him THIS long. Everyone's starting to ask questions._

"Sakura?" a voice called to her as if from the farthest reaches of outer space, penetrating slowly through thick atmospheres of vexation.

The kunoichi blinked and found her empty-eyed gaze directed out the window and far away from her assignment. The fish on the desk in front of her, resting bleakly on parchment and surrounded by elaborately wrought seals, wasn't any more resuscitated now than it had been when she'd started. In fact, the poor thing was probably riper for dinner than for resurrection.

"Are you all right?" inquired Lady Tsunade with guarded curiosity, one amber eyebrow raised, as she looked in from the lab doorway.

Sakura let her thumbnail fall from her mouth not having realized before now that she'd been worrying it. In her lap rested the Fifth Hokage's own personal textbook with its margins crammed full of useful notes and all the really important passages in brackets. The young ninja turned slowly toward her master then delivered a faint, belated smile.

"Oh, sorry Lady Tsunade," she stammered, "I guess my mind was off somewhere."

The ninja-lord frowned with maternal understanding. "You've been working pretty hard for a long while now. I don't usually say things like this but you should take some time off to relax. Adequate rest is just as important to learning or training as anything else, you know."

Sakura returned a feeble nod. "I will, Lady Tsunade…and thank you."

The Hokage shot her a grin, took a step to leave but then stopped and added: "Oh, and will you check on Naruto again? It's not like him to be sick, let alone for so long. Really I should have sent medical-ninjas to drag his orange butt to the hospital by now, kicking and screaming if that's what it comes to, but it keeps slipping my mind." The woman winced then laughed confidingly. "I have to admit too I've kind of been grateful for the break – Naruto NOT annoying me about his next mission or reminding me how he's going to be the Hokage one day or getting into a fight or argument or trouble of SOME kind. But now the quiet's starting to really BUG me."

"Um, sure, Lady Hokage," Sakura replied, twisting a length of pink hair, "of course."

Tsunade straightened in thought then folded her arms over her ample chest. "It's so strange," she pondered aloud. "I mean, I KNOW he's not lazy…CRAZY, yes, but not lazy so there's no way he's faking it just to get out of having to go on missions. Anyway," added the Sannin who gave her student a clever look, "being that you're an aspiring medical-ninja now, I'll leave the matter of this particular patient…to _you._"

Sakura suppressed her reflex to cringe. "Thank you, Sensei," she managed in a half-hearted tone.

Once Tsunade had gone, Sakura closed her textbook then her eyes and sat for a while with the tome cradled against her chest, feeling almost ill. Rising slowly, the girl paced then to the window and directed her imploring, emerald-eyed stare up through the trees as if the answer might be found somewhere in that leaf-veiled, Konoha sky.

_What am I supposed to do?_ she lamented, burning with frustration as her teeth clenched fiercely. _Naruto, I SWEAR I'll kill you for putting me through this. This is all YOUR fault!_

The anger was real but beneath that lurked a deeper, underlying fear – that her impulsive teammate could have gotten lost or hurt, kidnapped or killed. Weren't there some very serious bad-guys called the Akatsuki on the hunt for him and who almost GOT him when he and Jiraiya went to bring Lady Tsunade back to the Leaf Village after Lord Sarutobi's death?

Sakura drew a deep breath and tried to regain some sense of calm.

_Naruto's a lot more resourceful, stronger, luckier and smarter than anyone usually gives him credit for,_ she told herself then amended: _Well, more resourceful, stronger and luckier, anyway. And he just has this…this WAY of getting out of bad spots somehow._

_Whatever he's up to in Wave Country couldn't possibly be harder than some of those other missions he's been on, right?_

The young kunoichi's emotions settled slightly but then just as quickly veered back.

_Usually Kakashi-sensei was there…or Master Jiraiya to help when things got really serious._

Sakura's green eyes widened then rolled as she considered what she was doing to herself with all this immature and stereotypically-girlish vacillation.

_You've got to stop this,_ she tried again, trying to clear the warring thoughts from her head._ Naruto is just a little late. That's all. He told Inari and Chuuya he'd be back in a week and you KNOW how he is about keeping his word._

_He just got delayed,_ the genin considered hopefully.

_It happens._

_He'll be back any minute and then everything can go right back to normal._

Suddenly, Sakura's temper flared; the tendons in her right fist creaked as the girl raised it and clenched hard. _AFTER I break every last bone in his little blond BODY! CHA!_

She went slack then as another current of thought assailed her: _and if he's not back?_

The laboratory suddenly felt dreadfully, oppressively still; the muttering voices of the other students and interns trailing away from down the hall, distant and phantasmal.

Meanwhile, said her conscious which rose within her like a restless spirit, she'd _lied_ to her sensei; _lied_ to the Hokage…or, at very least, had withheld the truth. Not that she'd _never_ done anything like that before but never about anything as serious as this.

Lady Tsunade had sworn to die defending the village if necessary, had agreed to pass on her knowledge to Sakura and take her on as her disciple student. It was an honor. More than that it was a pledge of trust and faith – a declaration of belief that this undistinguished little thirteen-year old girl with pink hair and NO accomplishments of any kind past the good grades she'd always earned at the academy would somehow prove worthy of the Legendary Sannin's generosity.

Sakura's fingertips tapped a frantic rhythm on the window sill.

_Get a grip,_ she urged herself at last. _You're way over-thinking this. Everyone covers for a friend sometimes. Everyone._

From her memory rose Kakashi-sensei's bracing words; the most serious thing, the deepest and most heartfelt wisdom the often inscrutable jonin had ever imparted: _'Those who abandon their friends are worse than scum.'_

_Come on, _thought Sakura in a comforting way as if she was trying to coax herself off a ledge, _what are you really going to do, rat out your own partner…your friend?_

The word echoed in her mind. Naruto really was a friend, wasn't he.

She closed her eyes. Thinking about it, it sure seemed like he'd been a lot better friend to her than she'd ever been to him. He'd saved her life how many times now and almost always at extreme personal risk to his own. And, in turn, how many times had she ever done anything for him or even bothered to offer her strange, hyperactive teammate so much as a kind word?

_You OWE him, girl,_ the genin concluded sternly. _You need to suck this up and make it work somehow. This one time you have to come through for him. This time YOU can save HIM…even IF it's just from his own stupidity._

_Yeah!_ Sakura told herself with an air of satisfying finality. Just saying it that way resonated through her mind like the tone of a bell – one clean, crisp note that cleared away all the dissonance.

Turning smartly from the window, the young ninja felt lighter. At last it was done. She would go home now, enjoy her mom's thoughtfully-prepared dinner, get a good night sleep and then figure out how to stall, well, _everybody_ in the Hidden Leaf Village until Naruto's return.

* * *

Her certitude lasted almost until she got home.

Along the way as she walked little doubts started to trickle in, bit by bit, like rain through the rusting canopy of her resolve. A lot of it wasn't anything she could put her finger on but only the vague, uneasy sense that perpetuating Naruto's house of cards was only going to make things worse…for him, for herself and for those two well-meaning little kids.

_Tazuna and Tsunami, and Chuuya's parents must be out of their MINDS by now,_ she thought.

So now Sakura found herself standing in front of a door, frozen on the threshold literally as well as figuratively. If she entered, she was betraying her partner and friend. If she walked away, she was betraying both her sensei and her own conscience. That's kind of what it came down to, didn't it? There was no in-between.

The door swung inward suddenly, startling Sakura and ripping her from her thoughts.

Shizune, looking down at her armload of documents instead of where she was going, almost bowled the girl over in her haste but stopped just in time. Ninja reflexes were often useful like that.

"Oh!" the Hokage's adjutant gasped slightly then paused to catch her breath. "Sakura, I didn't expect to see you. Did you want to see Lady Tsunade?"

Sakura gave the woman a dumfounded look. This time the customary question wasn't really that simple to answer.

Seconds ticked by. Shizune's face turned increasingly puzzled.

_No, _Sakura thought to say with an easy, facile smile smeared over her face,_ I know she's busy and I'd hate to interrupt. I'll just talk to her tomorrow._ But though her stomach twisted into painful knots, the young kunoichi instead hung her head and, with an expression tense with pain, nodded.

* * *

**Aya**

Captain Ao fixed his lone eye hard on the senior lab technician who all but withered under the intensity. "Do you really mean to say that you've isolated ten completely different pathogens, all lethal, from the specimen Miss Sakamoto brought you last week and NONE of them are responsible for what's going on out there?" the jonin railed in disbelief.

In the wake of Krishenay Rahaman's massacre of his late master the Mizukage's own guards, the one-eyed mist-shinobi named Ao along with the stunningly-beautiful Mei Terumi had questioned Aya intently. Though thorough, the whole experience had been surprisingly gentle, lasting only a few hours, owing in part to the former hunter-ninja's total cooperation in which she'd admitted to having saved Haku's life back in Wave Country, withholding the fact of the fugitive's survival ever since and assisting him yet again when he'd reappeared unexpectedly in Kirigakure with a story about trying to save it from some vague but immediate doom – a doom that was starting to come to pass.

The technician, disconcerted at being confronted suddenly by two high-ranking jonin, looked helplessly toward Aya who could only shrug. "Y-yes, sir, that's exactly right," he explained with a hard swallow, standing by his report. However frightening the ANBU Captain might be, given the militaristic features of his face, blue hair cut in a crisp, chisel-slant, talisman earrings and piratical black eye-patch, what the medical-ninja knew was far worse: "All the diseases we cultured from the blood and fluids on the handkerchief resemble known pandemic strains but they've been, I don't know how I should put this, _refined_ somehow. They're all much more dangerous, much more contagious. I'm talking by orders of magnitude!"

Mei Terumi's demure, devil-may-care laugh broke the mood as she remarked: "Ten plagues, you say. How very."

"But none of them show up in any of those who've died since the outbreak began."

The distractingly-voluptuous woman tossed her mane of very long, reddish-brown hair then turned serious. "I assume you and your staff have taken steps to make sure none of _them_ get loose? After all, things are bad enough as they are."

"Um…uh, yes, ma'am," he stuttered, whether due to her rank and reputation or the stupefying power of her figure, it was hard to tell. "The cultures are being stored in separate level five containment vaults – the most secure we have."

"And what about this eleventh plague?" the kunoichi continued probingly. "Do you have any answers on it?"  
"No, ma'am, nothing yet, but we're working on it. We hope to know more once we develop cultures taken from the corpse the ANBU recovered after the attack." The man looked to make sure his audience knew which one he meant – the decapitated body of a shinobi who had been identified beyond doubt as a member the Tsujita clan, a bloodline thought to have been hunted to extinction until just days ago. The technician frowned, a little overwhelmed. "We'd have it by now but it took us awhile to thaw out," he explained. "Both it and the head were hard-frozen when we got it and we couldn't rush the process."

Mei nodded though clearly she'd hoped for better news. "Do the best you can," she instructed, "keeping in mind that a lot of lives are on the line, maybe even the entire future of the Hidden Mist Village. If your department needs anything at all in the way of resources, let me know and I will see to it that you have them." The medical-ninja bobbed his head that he understood. "Also," added the jonin, "double the guards on those containment vaults. I'd hate to leave what sounds like the most deadly biological weapons ever developed without appropriate protection.

"Do let me know as soon as you come up with any more information."

"Ms. Terumi," Aya ventured with hesitation clear in her voice while the lab tech bowed and hastened away. This was all so new to her – being in Kirigakure, dealing with these strange and very powerful people whose eccentricities seemed baffling, their moods unpredictable. More than that, this Mei Terumi, who Aya knew nothing about, had, in an astonishingly-cavalier way, swept into the void left by the Fifth Mizukage's still-unannounced death. Still, she continued: "I don't mean to make excuses in advance but you ought to know that we're not very well equipped to deal with an outbreak of this sort." The young mist-ninja's dark eyes darted up then sank shyly. "The medical sciences never were a priority in the Hidden Mist Village. If you were sick or wounded and not strong enough to recover, you died, and that's how it's always been." She fell quiet and was surprised at being given leave to continue. "That there's a medical corps at all is almost an afterthought."

Mei allowed herself a thoughtful hum; the tips of the woman's delicate fingers resting just below her lips. "Yes, I remember. Lord Oku, whatever his faults, felt we needed to at least pretend to keep up with the Leaf Village on that front."

"What does this all mean, though?" asked Ao who started to pace, his prosecutorial thoughts clearly focused on unraveling the problem from another end. "If the Tsujitas and their cohorts meant to destroy Kirigakure and had the means then why didn't they do it? Why hold ten plagues back only to unleash an eleventh?"

Mei shrugged, seemingly amused by the Captain's consternation, then quipped: "Cold feet, maybe."

Ao frowned. "A distraction of some sort, more likely."

"Aya," ventured Mei curiously as she turned toward the junior kunoichi, "you told us that Haku said he was actually trying to _stop_ the plagues from being released. Did he say why?"

The girl shook her head vaguely. "Something about the people being worth an effort to save – that's all I remember."

Ao scoffed derisively and shook his head. "It has to be a diversion, a misdirection. That's the only tactic that makes sense."

"Unless he was successful," countered Mei, thinking aloud, "at least in part, according to Aya's report. Perhaps Haku is not on the side of our enemies after all…or is pursuing his own agenda."

The mist-captain shot her a stunned look. "Of course he's on _their _side; HE is one of them. It's been very clear all along, even when he was running around with Zabuza, that he has the Aramata clan's kekk-," the jonin broke off and looked away in grim contrition before he regrouped to continue, "…a-and surely you haven't forgotten all the things he and his master did when they tried to take over Kirigakure a couple of years back."

Aya looked back and forth between them.

Whatever faux-pa Ao might have been guilty off, Mei let it pass. "Quite true," she conceded, "but the boy was very young at the time and still is now, really. It seems a shame to hold him responsible for what he did back then while under the influence of a character like Momochi."

The grizzled Captain stared then chuckled with patient yet still deferential disbelief as if even he was unsure whether his apparent superior was deliberately baiting him. "MISS Terumi," he exclaimed, "Haku was _hardly_ an innocent in Zabuza Momochi's coup-de-etat. As a few dozen dead mist-shinobi will attest: your so-called 'boy' was a _very_ willing and active participant."

The woman's brow narrowed as she fixed him suddenly with an icy look. "Careful on the 'Miss' part," she asserted levelly, "_or I'll kill you."_

Ao's jaw dropped and his eye went wide as he cast a questioning glance toward an equally-shocked Aya.

"Anyway, I'm just playing devil's advocate," Mei went on with cloying, somewhat sultry sweetness as she returned without pause to the subject at hand, "or, in this case, his apprentice's since there appears to be some doubt as to what he was doing here. Besides," she advanced with a carefree wave of her hand, "The Demon of the Hidden Mist killed his entire class of cadets and ended up being rewarded for it by none other than our own Sandaime. With the exception of Aya perhaps, everyone in this room has killed at least one of our own comrades-in-arms."

Aya looked away, unsure if the jonin's comment was meant as compliment or criticism.

Ao grimaced and crossed his arms. "The pre-reformation genin exams, brutal as they were, were hardly the same thing as Zabuza's senseless revolution…or the wholesale destruction of Haku and his team's attack on the village. They're _still_ trying to clear away the wreckage." The man scowled as he thought. "It's as bad as the Kaguya uprising, if not worse."

"Don't get worked up about it. I was only pointing out that fratricide has only very recently gone out of fashion. Our own dearly-departed Fourth killed as many as anyone, _including_ the Kaguya clan for that matter, or rather, _had_ them killed."

Aya couldn't help but think then of her own sensei, Toru, himself executed at the hands of the Mizukage's emissary. Most of the time he'd seemed quite at ease with his role and yet in his rare, quiet and more thoughtful moments, the burly jonin sometimes let slip a glimpse of the private pain that haunted him over some of those he'd killed. Not all of them 'had it coming' as he'd phrased it. Doubtless, Krishenay Rahaman harbored no such misgivings.

"So far," Mei went on, "we have precious little in the way of actionable intelligence but we do have one witness who claims Haku was actually trying to help us…unless his actions were all part of an elaborate charade as you suggest or unless she's lying to us. So, Captain Ao," she asked playfully then canted her head toward Aya, "_is_ she lying?"

The younger ninja again felt the weight of Ao's probing, single-eyed gaze as the stern-faced ninja turned toward her.

"No," the captain muttered with great reluctance, "I don't think so."

* * *

When Mei and Captain Ao left the laboratory, Aya, having been neither asked to accompany them nor dismissed, followed though she was not entirely sure why. Part of it, she felt, was out of pure fear that she had not yet vindicated herself in the two ninjas' eyes for having aided the Demon's Apprentice; that her sentence for that was still to be determined.

Or maybe it was just out of gratitude for their leniency. After having discovered Aya's secrets, rather than turning the kunoichi over for punishment and a much more severe and invasive inquisition at the hands of the mist-ANBU's Truth and Penitence Branch, the strange pair had simply and inexplicably let her resume her duties at the hospital on the condition of total silence.

Part of it, Aya knew, was force of habit. Just as she'd followed Toru-sensei for most of her life, following Mei seemed every bit as natural. Maybe it was her nature to be lead or maybe it was the way this odd, almost hypnotically-alluring woman had taken control during what was perhaps the worst crisis the Mist Village had ever faced.

Part of it, Aya hoped, was that the jonin had a plan. With the Mizukage dead and the village facing an outbreak, under attack by vengeful ninja clans, monsters and even Lord Oku's own emissary, Kirigakure seemed strangely fragile – imperiled now more than at any other time over even its often violent history. Mei and Ao, whatever their peculiarities, were determined, clearly, to save it and Aya thought she really ought to be a part of that.

No, she reevaluated, she should _definitely_ be a part of that. Wasn't it her duty?

* * *

Whatever either of their motivations, Aya had been surprised to find herself on hand when Mei, quite calmly, turned over the scroll in which the late Mizukage's body was sealed to the medical examiners, directing them to report immediately and exclusively to her when they'd determined the cause of their lord's death. Since then the former hunter-ninja had watched the woman rise, unofficially, to the very top of the chain of command, giving her orders to both shinobi and the Mist Village's civilian departments alike. The more Mei took command the more sought her out, appearing as if from nowhere, ready to follow her until it became clear after a while that the jonin hadn't just assumed authority; it had gravitated to her as well.

Struggling now to keep up with her de-facto leader as they navigated the hospital corridors, Aya almost walked face-first into Captain Ao's back as he and Mei stopped sharply to pause and look down into a courtyard that had been taken over for use as an infirmary.

"This is unacceptable," Mei remarked with a shake of her head as she reviewed the row after row of cots and the slack or agonized faces below, "people dying in their homes, falling dead in the streets - that someone would do something like this deliberately, however justified they think themselves."

Aya nodded in sympathy, slightly surprised by the pain in the senior kunoichi's voice. It was the last thing she'd expected.

"But if it is the Tsujita responsible it strikes me as quite strange, as you pointed out before, Captain Ao, that they would release only one of their diseases if they had eleven in their arsenal." The auburn-haired shinobi raised her chin slightly, seeming regal and elegant even in her blue, mist-ninja fatigues and high-collared armored jacket. "It's only a detail," she murmured as if to herself, "but eleven just seems like such an unlikely number to me. I find it puzzling too that that's the one unaccounted for from the sample Haku gave Aya just a few days ago.

"Ten, on the other hand," she continued, expounding, "'ten' has a definite poetic significance. _That's _the number a clan set on revenge would pick, don't you think?"

Though not sure herself one way or the other, Aya couldn't help but want to agree.

"You know what else bothers me?" offered Mei, largely rhetorically. "Although everyone's calling the incident of last week an attack, it was our side that initiated the contact. That assassination team with Yashako, Yamada and that other shinobi whose name I always forget, they must have been informed well in advance that the Mist Village had been infiltrated."

Ao nodded, offering: "True enough. Perhaps the Demon's Apprentice or someone in his party was noticed. Although," the captain couldn't help but add critically, "if they had any idea about the Tsujita's kekkei-genkai or the powers of the other members of his party, they really should have considered the potential consequences and orchestrated their response with that in mind. I thought to ask Yashako about that directly, since she was the team leader, but it seems she's disappeared. No one's seen her since the incident."

The woman gave him an exasperated glance. "That figures," she remarked sardonically, "another complication to add to the stack. Tell your squads to keep searching."

"Of course."

"Meanwhile," continued the kunoichi, "for the Tsujita's part, one might assume that if they and their allies had taken the time to prepare ten plagues to destroy us that they would have or should have figured out a way of stealing in to Kirigakure undetected to deliver them." Mei's eyes narrowed fiercely. "And just how did everybody find out about the Tsujita's involvement so quickly? I find it hard to believe that word could have spread already to every corner of the city when we only just found out for certain ourselves; and we're in charge of the investigation.

"Then there's Rahaman and his inexplicable killing spree," she added before Ao could comment. "It couldn't be that he's in league with them; could it? The Mizukage's own emissary – a traitor?"

"_No,"_ the ninja Captain stated flatly and a little too quickly, drawing both women's' curious glances. "I should have told you this before now, Ms. Terumi, but I made the mistake once of -" he swallowed then spared Aya a look, "'taking a look' at him and found that HE is not a 'he' but a 'they'. Imagine my surprise when _scores _of un-human eyes looked right back at me. It was the 108 Demons; I'm sure of it. I don't know how the Mizukage bent them to his will but I find it impossible the idea that they could be allied with anyone else."

Both Mei and Aya startled at the revelation but it was Mei who returned quickly to her baseline calm. "I see," she stated somberly. "So that's where Rahaman came from; I did always wonder who or what he was. I had no idea Lord Oku was actually capable of using the jutsu he'd been entrusted with like that or that he'd lack the sense not to use it."

All three ninjas fell quiet for a time during which Aya thought about Rahaman, or rather the 108 Demons. She wondered too what kind of man would bring back monsters like those – an evil long since consigned to the past, relegated to legends and ghost stories. Of course, the expression she'd seen on her Mizukage, Lord Oku's dead face provided the answer plainly enough: a frightened one.

"I suppose we should consider him, well…'them' an S-class criminal now," Ao observed, "to be captured or killed on sight."

Mei shook her head. "No," she insisted wearily. "With our jonin ranks depleted, we're nowhere near strong enough to face them even if we weren't dealing with a pandemic. On the other hand," the woman conceded, "it's probably too much to hope for that they give us time to try and get through the rest of this first. I suppose issuing a warning for everyone to avoid them, pathetic as that is, is the best we can do for now." She smiled with grim fatalism then, for the first time in the brief while that Aya had known her, gave way to uncontained emotion. "Oh, Lord Oku," sobbed Mei with a shudder, "how could you?"

Moving on after a time, Mei began to receive an onslaught of reports from the ANBU teams she'd dispatched earlier. They'd scoured the city but found no other infiltrators. The masked shinobi informed her too that the number of plague victims was rising. Frowning grimly and nodding that she understood, the woman sent squads of rank-and-file shinobi to guard the storehouses, keep an eye out for any signs of outright panic and to bring anyone experiencing the symptoms of the disease straight to the hospital or one of the makeshift expansion clinics for care. Lastly, and this with great reluctance, the jonin ordered a general quarantine – no one was to be allowed into or out of the village.

Aya's heart sank at the news. It was hard to believe things could get so bad so quickly and she couldn't help but wonder if she weren't partly to blame – that things might've turned out differently if she'd only turned Haku and his associate over to the ANBU instead of helping them; if she killed The Demon's Apprentice back in Wave Country in the first place.

The girl looked up from her thoughts as two more masked shinobi approached Mei, each bearing messages. The woman accepted them then sent the pair on their way. With barely contained impatience, she skimmed both, shook her head then tore them in half with a contemptuous, yet still graceful, flourish. Holding the hapless papers up before her in a fan, she then pursed her lips and blew gently at which the documents dissolved into nothingness.

"Our dear councilors, Lord Hirai and Lady Inoue aren't helping," Mei supplied, "trying to direct things from afar without trying to seem or be seen that they're directing things – he from his castle and she from her flagship." The woman allowed herself a slanted, sour grin. "With their egos and senses of entitlement you'd think they'd jump at the chance to play Mizukage."

"I doubt that anyone would willingly enter a plague city," answered the Captain who gave her an appreciative look. "So that's why you haven't announced anything about Oku's death. You were waiting to see if either of them already knew."

"The joke's on me though. Inoue and Hirai are both playing coy which tells me nothing except that this knot is even more tangled than it looks."

"With the Mizukage gone and his two councilors both trying to control things with whispers, that puts you in charge…operationally if not formally."

"So I've noticed," said Mei glumly. "That certainly gives our junior officers plausible deniability with whoever comes out on top when all this is over, assuming anyone survives, of course."

Ao adopted a thoughtful pose – every bit the noble advisor. "A mist-ninja would never be motived by such cynicism," he ventured with only the slightest sarcastic trace and the two shared a conspiratorial chuckle.

"They ought to be motivated by self-preservation at the very least," she quipped, "considering what we're up against – plagues, demons, enemy ninja." The woman couldn't help but laugh as her gallows-humor 'laundry list' of adversaries grew. "Am I missing anything? Oh yes," she piped, "how could I forget – a bijuu!"

Ao glanced at her then answered with an emphatic grunt. "That last was a clever precaution on their part. Without it, none of them would have made it out of Kirigakure alive."

Her expression softened as she turned the matter over in her head. "That's true," mused Mei, "very true…and yet -."

"What?"

"It's kind of way-overkill for a support role, don't you think?"

"How do you mean?"

"Meaning," Mei clarified in a slightly teasing tone, "that that's the part I have the most trouble trying to reconcile: if you have the power of a tailed-beast why bother with plagues at all? Why not use the Nine-Tailed Fox to destroy Kirigakure like it once destroyed the Leaf Village?

"Aya," she continued, turning toward the medical-ninja, "what do you remember about the jinchuuriki?"

"Um, well, he was just a boy," blurted Aya, surprised by the question and trying to be helpful. He was wearing an ANBU mask so I couldn't see his face but I think he was even younger than Haku; smaller anyway."

Captain Ao drew himself up somewhat paternally. "These are all highly-interesting points and observations that we've been discussing but not necessarily useful ones," he concluded with a dismissive wave. "Anything the Tsujita clan, Haku or any of their their allies have shown us is just as likely to be part of a broader strategy to confuse us and keep us from acting decisively."

"Well it's working because I'm certainly confused," admitted Mei without shame as she pinched the bridge of her nose but she emerged from the posture with a smile on her face. "Although you've made your point, Captain Ao, and you're right - confusing situations don't call for confusion in response, they call for clarity. Very well then, here it is: all our emergent problems are what they are and we will simply have to deal with them as they arise as best we can on a case-by-case basis using what resources we have," she stated. "As for the incident in the Piazza del Sangre', since we know almost nothing about any of those involved with the notable exception of Haku we should direct our focus towards him. This whole business appears to revolve around the boy and so we ought to find him and see for ourselves what he knows and quickly."

Ao weighed her words then nodded sagely in agreement. "Hmm," he grumbled in a distant tone. "Having just escaped an ANBU assassination team, not to mention an assault by practically every ninja in the Mist Village, our Demon's Apprentice must be long gone by now."

Mei's smile was sweet but her jewel eyes were dead serious. "Ah, but you two are ANBU _ninja-hunters_, right?" she advanced pointedly, looking between Ao and Aya. "Start hunting."

* * *

**Inari**

Pencil scratched across paper, leaving in its track a grainy curve that tried to match the contours of the First Hokage's heroic jawline. Neither he nor his three companion ninja-lords, Nidaime, Sandaime and Yondaime looked much like the way they were represented on the monument that overlooked the Leaf Village, tending here to be bug-eyed with overly dark and prominent eyebrows, jagged scribbles for hair, and complexions rough with smudges and eraser crumbs.

Inari chewed his lip, demoralized even further by the indefensibly poor quality of his artwork. Hard though he tried, he just hadn't been able to think of anything better to do – anything he hadn't already done to the point where he was sick to death of it anyway.

The ten-year old rested his head on a palm, pushing one cheek up into his eye, and looked over at an equally-bored Chuuya who sat across the dining room table from him, flipping playing-cards into a distant bowl with a vacant expression on his face. He, at least, was actually getting pretty good. Inari gave forth with a mournful sigh and wondered just how much longer he was going to be stuck here in Naruto's apartment.

When the plan had first come up, kind of spur-of-the-moment after he and Chuuya had told Naruto of Haku's plans to try to head off a bunch of pissed-off ninjas trying to destroy Kirigakure and of Mari's plea for him to help, it had really sounded like staying for a while undercover in the Hidden Leaf Village would be fun…like an adventure. Now though the place seemed more like a prison and, despite the Wave Country boy's earlier eagerness to go on a 'real ninja mission', the only thing he wanted now was to go home.

A knock sounded at the door.

Chuuya huffed miserably, picked up his cards and slouched off without a word or wasted effort to go hide in the base-cabinet under the sink. The drill had become so practiced and routine he didn't even have to think about it anymore.

Inari's chest rose then fell then he put his hands together in prayer.

"Please be Naruto," he begged the ceiling as memories of his mom, Grandpa Tazuna and everything he knew and loved about Wave Country flooded him. "Please, please, please, please, please," he repeated, thought about it then added one more in case that one would be the one to move the balance, "PLEASE, be Naruto."

Weaving his fingers into what was now a very familiar seal, the bridge-builder's grandson again transformed himself into a pajama-clad and very sick and weary-looking Naruto Uzumaki.

Thus disguised the boy shut his eyes, repeated his prayer silently then dragged himself over to open the door.

"Oh…hi, Sakura," he offered with slight disappointment though it wasn't really at all bad to see her again.

The pretty, pink-haired girl, standing in the doorway again in her favorite dress of red piped with silver, gave the transformed Inari a fleeting smile.

"Hi, Inari," she offered with a strange glum awkwardness then paced inside.

Inari shut the door and dispelled his jutsu as a worried look fell over his young face. Something was definitely up. He'd never seen the kunoichi so downcast, not even when faced with the prospect of having to fight Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist back in Wave Country when they'd first met.

The ten-year old watched the young leaf-ninja wander around the combined living/kitchen/dining area of Naruto's apartment absently for a few moments before she turned back toward him.

"Sit down, please, would you, Inari?" she asked with the laden seriousness of a grown-up then went to knock on the kitchen countertop. "You too, Chuuya."

The chubbier boy poked the cabinet door open, peeked curiously then spilled out onto the floor.

"Look, I-I really don't know how else to say this," Sakura began once they all sat gathered at the little dining room table. She then took a deep breath and added at last: "it's over. They know."

The two boys exchanged a series of quick, uncertain looks.

"W-what?" sputtered Inari in bewilderment. "What do you mean, Sakura? What are you talking about? WHO knows?"

The girl's pink brows knitted as she folded her hands guiltily in her lap. "The Hokage, Lady Tsunade."

Chuuya's dark eyes bugged slowly with comprehension. **"YOU!"** he cried, exploding to his feet with such force that the chair under him flew back and went clattering across the floor. "You sold us out! You TOLD!"

Inari gasped, not wanting to believe it, but the expression on Sakura's face confirmed the truth. A sensation took him, like cold hands gripping him from inside. "B-but," the boy argued reflexively despite sensing how pointless it was, "you _helped _us."

"I know," murmured Sakura. "I'm sorry."

Chuuya froze for a moment and blinked, utterly speechless; his breath huffing like a train. "Traitor," he cursed vengefully at last, cheeks red and tears starting to flow. "Lowlife traitor!" His pitchy howl shattered the air as he stormed in a circle before whirling again toward Sakura. "I KNEW we shouldn't have trusted you - worthless, pink-haired WITCH."

"Shut UP, Chuuya!" barked Inari with equal rage though it didn't last. "Just shut up, ok?"

Part of him felt that he should back up his partner, join him in his justifiable fury. But Sakura had helped save his life, his grandpa's life. How could she be anything but a friend no matter what?

Inari looked up at Sakura plaintively. More and more as the days had dragged on he'd wished for all this to end but never like this; never-ever like this. "So what happens now?" he managed in a squeaky rasp, doing his best to wring the unseemly, childish and un-ninja-like emotion from his voice.

Naruto's teammate hung her head with a pitying look that made Inari feel even worse. "She wants to see you."

"Oh, so you're supposed to bring us in, huh?" a resurgent Chuuya growled. "Like you COULD!"

Inari felt his head roll loosely on his neck. "Chuuya," he cautioned tiredly.

"_What, Inari? What?"_ his teammate remonstrated and rounded on him, slamming both meaty palms down hard on the tabletop. "What are we gonna do? Are we just gonna give up? Just like that?" he roared into Inari's ear, flecks of foam spilling from his peeled-back lips as he flailed his arm in contempt. "Would _Naruto_ just give up? Huh? Would _Sensei?_"

Gritting his teeth in the heat of his partner's rage, Inari felt his own rise up and fill him. _"Shut up! Just shut up!" _Inari screeched as he leaped from his seat, seized Chuuya by the shirt and shook the bigger boy hard with chakra-backed strength. _"Don't you EVER throw it in my face like you're better than me! That you care about Naruto and Haku more than me! It's over! Just get it through your thick, freakin' stupid head; __**it's OVER!**__"_

As quickly as Inari's anger flowered so too did it die out. Dropping his teammate, the fledgling ninja felt his body crumble out from under him like a sand castle in the tide. It was all he could do to steer himself toward his chair before he fell back into it. His strength, born of frustration yielded to an unkind realization – the worst imaginable.

"However it happened," he explained, as much to himself as to a stunned and reeling Chuuya, trying and failing to hold back tears, "the leaf-ninjas know about us which means our mission is over and we…we f-failed."

Silence fell like a pall as the finality of his words registered.

"Come on guys," muttered Sakura in a hoarse whisper. "We'd better get going."

* * *

Thanks for reading!


	26. The Wonders of the Deep Part 5

Hi, and thanks for coming back!

* * *

**Sakura**

Practically numb, her body senseless as clay, Sakura shepherded the two boys like prisoners through the Konoha streets and into the Hokage's tower, ignoring the odd looks they drew.

A part of her wanted to reach back, to mine, to analyze all the possibilities she could have and should have explored even though it was useless now. What was done was done. If there had been a way to save Naruto and the boys' secret and her own sense of what was the right thing to do (and she was sure there was) she hadn't found it. In the end, she'd failed too.

Climbing the curved staircases, one after the other, to Lady Tsunade's office, Sakura couldn't help but wonder what would happen now. Only one thing seemed sure: it wouldn't be anything good.

Shizune greeted the three in the lobby, her own expression a mask of uncertainty as she lead the rest of the way to the Hokage's office, knocked on the door then ushered them in.

Tsunade rose grandly from her wide, 'U'-shaped desk piled high with paperwork with a smile cool on her face. It was only because Sakura knew her master better that she noticed the tension beneath the placid veneer.

"Welcome to the Hidden Leaf Village…though I guess you two have been here awhile," the woman offered amiably and humorously enough, seeming quite gracious and poised in her robe of soft jade. "My name is Tsunade and I'm the village's Fifth Hokage. I gather you're Inari," she said in her best non-threatening voice then bent toward Inari, "and you must be Chuuya," she said to Chuuya.

_Tomb-like_ silence followed.

"I see," the Hokage continued with diplomatic calm in answer to her guests' stony 'I-hate-you' stares. "Listen," she tried again, "you're not in any trouble…with me at least. That you two were able to sneak in here and hide out for so long tells me that our security needs some serious upgrading. Even so, I'm really, really impressed that you were able to pull it off."

Tsunade looked back and forth between the Wave Country boys with an expression that was borderline motherly. "But one of my ninja's has gone missing, hasn't he? And it's very, very important that we get him back and make sure he's safe."

The kunoichi rose up to her full height and put her hands on her hips.

"I know you boys feel an obligation toward Naruto as your friend - a bond. I too, and every ninja and every citizen in Konoha, have a bond with him just like it. He is one of us. When he became a ninja he swore an oath that he would protect us and we…we have a duty, each of us, to be worthy of that service and loyalty. As Hokage, no one feels this more deeply than I do for the sole responsibility rests with me. I'm responsible for him, care about him, as I care about all the shinobi and citizens of this village. It's not unlike how your families care about you.

"So," she added gently, smiling in summation, "would you please tell me where Naruto's gone?"

Chuuya's dark eyes rose like drawn longbows as he answered slowly in stark defiance: "We will NEVER tell you." He added then with a scowl: "scary old lady."

His leaner partner, Inari, clearly bothered a little by the impudence nevertheless nodded in solemn solidarity.

Sakura grimaced. Her blood ran cold while Tsunade blinked and gave the boys a taut smile.

"You don't think so?" she offered then, still smiling, said to Sakura and Shizune, "give us a minute alone, would you?"

Sakura, with her heart in her throat, nodded compliantly then joined the Hokage's assistant as they paced to the door and stepped out, risking one last look at her sensei and the potentially doomed children.

_Seconds _later, the two kunoichi, who hadn't strayed at all far from the door, overheard their master growl something unintelligible followed by the boys' frantic confession and then:

"**Naruto did WHAT! He went WHERE!"** Tsunade bellowed followed by a thunderous crash that rattled the concrete bones of the Hokage's Tower.

Sakura and Shizune gaped at each other in horror then went stumbling through the door and into Tsunade's office where their Hokage stood, straight and still with her back to them. The twin braids of her long, sandy hair and the hem of her jade robe blew fitfully in the wind while papers and documents fluttered about the room like a flock of startled doves all against the sprawling, verdant backdrop of Konoha and the forests beyond aglow in the mid-morning sun that was clearly visible through the giant, jagged and gaping hole in the wall where a long band of windows used to be.

The two boys, Chuuya and Inari, huddled on the floor in a quaking, terror-stricken embrace.

Tsunade's desk was nowhere to be seen.

Too stunned to speak, Sakura held her hands clutched at her chest.

Bits of crumbing concrete dripped from the opening where Tsunade stood. A wobbling ceiling panel finally wrested free and came clattering to the floor as the whirling paperwork slowly started to settle.

Without turning, the Fifth Hokage uttered in syllables distinct and measured: "Get me Shikamaru."

Sakura and Shizune exchanged looks, wondering which of them their master was talking to before deciding it really didn't matter.

Sakura swallowed hard and turned to go just as Tsunade gestured vaguely toward the horizon and, with an edge in her voice, commanded testily: _"and…and __**get someone to find my damn DESK!**__"_

* * *

**Shikamaru**

Shikamaru Nara didn't need the intellectual gifts with which he was often credited or the powers of prophecy he lacked to realize that today was going to be _especially _troublesome.

Having Sakura Haruno march into the den of his family's ancestral home, inform him that the Hokage wanted to see him "NOW" then proceed to drag him through the city streets when he didn't move quickly enough was all more than enough to entrench that idea firmly in the newly-promoted chunin's head. In case he was still unclear, the pink-haired girl (and, Heaven and Earth, she was strong!) hauled him up the stairs of the Hokage's tower then ushered him un-gently into the woman's office.

"Ow!" Shikamaru protested uselessly, rubbing his smarting bicep. "Hey Sakura, ease up. I might need this arm later in life."

Stumbling to a stop, the black-haired teenager's eyes flickered at once to the enormous hole in the outside wall which was crisscrossed with thick bands of vivid yellow tape that read **'CAUTION CAUTION CAUTION'** in black, block letters. The breeze from the opening whispered and gusted unnaturally in the room, making it hard for Shizune to gather up the reams and reams of paperwork strewn about the floor like so much confetti.

A sad sigh drew Shikamaru's attention to his right where two kids - black-haired boys he'd never seen before, sat grim-faced on the floor.

Lady Tsunade turned away from the tape-obstructed vista toward a card-table, her chair and a folding chair that all sat where her desk normally did.

_Uh-huh,_ the shinobi mused. _I suppose, statistically speaking, that there's a tiny, tiny chance this isn't as bad as it looks._

"Good afternoon, Shikamaru," greeted Tsunade in a business-like tone who then rolled her chair up to the table and gestured. "Have a seat."

Pacing across the room, taking care to step over the remaining papers, Shikamaru lowered himself into the folding-chair's uncomfortable embrace then waited for the explanation he felt sure was coming.

"A few months ago you and several other ninjas were dispatched to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha, right?"

The young ninja coughed. Being that everyone who went on that mission including himself and his closest friend Chouji Akimichi almost got killed and still failed to bring back the renegade Uchiha and was by far the most humbling, emotionally-wrenching and pivotal event in his life, how could he forget! It had been barely three months ago…IF that!

"Yes, Lady Tsunade," he answered in forced understatement.

"Well we have ourselves a similar situation, only this time," her amber eyes blazed with leonine intensity, "it's Naruto."

Shikamaru's jaw tightened as a litany of curses ripped through his head. "Ok," he accepted with a sigh, managing (heroically, he thought) to keep his initial thoughts to himself. "Do you know _where_ he's gone?"

"Apparently," the Hokage began with a sour look on her face then cast a quick glance over at the two boys, "the Village Hidden in the Mist."

Shikamaru could almost HEAR his insides clench and even he couldn't hold off the expression that came to his face.

Lady Tsunade nodded. "So I hope you enjoy the prospect of a challenge and this time I expect a better result. Your last outing was a little sloppy if I recall correctly." While Shikamaru frowned thoughtfully at that remark, the Sannin paused for a moment before supplying gruffly: "I should add that, despite what you might think about your former classmate, Naruto's importance to this village cannot be overstated. Were he to be captured by the Mist it would be nothing short of _catastrophic_. Is there anything about what I've said that's unclear?"

The chunin blinked then rubbed the side of his face. Almost all of his memories of Naruto involved him doing something stupid, his almost complete cluelessness, his tragic grades, his braying laugh. Not that Shikamaru at all thought that the blond goofball was disposable, in fact he kind of liked him, but it was just a little hard to put together how Naruto's loss could be considered 'catastrophic'. That Sasuke's leaving the village was a loss was _easily_ explained – his 'magic' Uchiha eyeballs - but Naruto?

Then again, his dad, Shikaku's mood always turned a little serious and his old, scarred face sometimes got a little puckery whenever Naruto's name came up so there could well be more to the story.

"Lady Tsunade," Shikamaru ventured though he suspected what the answer would be, "as I'm sure you know, the more information I have going in the better the chances for success."

The Hokage frowned. "You're absolutely right," she answered. "However in this case, as in many cases, you must proceed with what you know incomplete or not."

Shikamaru took this in stride. The Nara clan had for generations been involved in various Village matters and projects that were expressly NOT for public consumption and so he was familiar with the idea that there were things he wasn't supposed to know.

"Yes, ma'am," the young ninja replied, figuring there was no point in arguing. However, being that his life and the lives of those who went with him might hinge upon what he knew or didn't know, he vowed to get the information he wanted from some other source, by hook or by crook if necessary, and that would be the end of that.

"You must maintain absolute secrecy about this mission. Circumstances being what they are," Tsunade continued, "you may take with you anyone you chose who happens to be available with the exception of Kakashi Hatake and any member of the Hyuuga clan."

"Understood," answered Shikamaru, realizing at once and not without a touch of irritation: _Sure, of course, you wouldn't want to risk losing any more of your precious 'magic eyeballs' now would you?_

"Ok then," the lord of the Leaf Village declared, "dismissed."

* * *

**The Fire-Tongue Fleet**

The sentry didn't spot the returning marines or even sense their presences until they were almost right up on the bow despite being on high alert in the bright, broad daylight and armed with high-powered field glasses.

"Whoa!" he yelped in spite of himself, feeling quite foolish. "Shit! Hey! You guys are supposed to radio in before you head back." The ninja glared down at Ko, the expedition leader who looked back up from the waves on which she stood and gave the hand sign for 'radio not working' before she and her team streamed aboard.

Minutes later both the sentry and the entire rest of the crew were dead. The same was true aboard the other three ships the main fleet had left back to wipe out any possible survivors from the bombarded island. The marines, many of them spattered with blood, gathered up the bodies and dumped them without ceremony into a pile on the foredeck before letting their transformation jutsus fade to reveal the descendants of the Tsujita, Kaguya and Nikai clans along with other sundry expatriates unfortunate enough to have fallen from Kirigakure's fickle grace.

"That was very neatly done," their master, Lord Tohma Nikai offered, appearing on deck in his robes of grey and white with Gennosuke and Sakiko in tow. "Especially you, Gennosuke," he added as he knelt on one knee and stroked the lavender hair tenderly from his disciple's weary face. "You've used your nascent gifts a lot this day – far overused them. But you've saved all of us from certain destruction, given us insight into the state of things as well as a cloak to hide behind until we could strike. If you do nothing else all the rest of your life, you've done enough already to insure your place in the loftiest heaven."

While Gennosuke grinned sheepishly in the glow of his sensei's praise, Sakiko, the young Kaguya, looked around at the blood-streaked decks and the mound of fresh corpses she herself had contributed to with a bleak expression on her face.

"What does it matter, Sensei?" she asked, a desperate woefulness in her voice as the girl brushed a stray ribbon of white hair from her face. "They've found us, destroyed our home. From what Gennosuke saw, Lord Tsujita failed. Haku's dead, his friend's dead; we're going to be hunted again."

Lord Nikai winced at his student's words as if each were a painful accusation. "I'm sorry, child, that you were born into a world like this." He paused to take a breath of the clean ocean air and looked out at the surrounding vistas of bright sun, blue sky and gentle surf – a quiet beauty seemingly at odds with their elegiac fate. "It does indeed appear as if Noriyasu had a poorly-timed crisis of conscious encouraged perhaps by Haku. I can hardly blame them. To unleash death on so many requires a hard heart – one tempered to steel by a hard life and the fires of countless injustices. Even so," he observed, his eyes coming alive, "we are still alive and providence has taken from us one sword only to furnish another. There can be no clearer sign that Heaven favors us."

The shaggy-haired ninja lord prepared himself then his hands moved through an elaborate series of seals. Ocean water summoned by his call crept up the side of all four boats, wriggling like tendrils or tentacles as it crawled across the decks and over the mounded bodies, flowing into and around the dead flesh. Long moments passed where it seemed that Tohma's dramatic technique had had no effect until the first lifeless eyes blinked and limbs began to twitch. One by one, the dead mist-ninjas dis-entangled themselves from the pile and rose.

"Stations," their new master commanded with a charitable smile, clapping one on its soggy back as it slogged past him without expression. "Return to your stations. That's a good boy." Turning toward his shocked followers and brethren he explained: "We can't very well have ships without crews; now can we?"

Everyone continued to watch in unsure silence as the sepulchral processions made their way back to the posts they'd occupied in life as though nothing had happened.

Tensai Kaguya looked on stoically, as pale and still as an ivory statue. "And what should _we_ do, Tohma-sensei?"

The ninja-lord-in-exile reached out to give the shinobi's lean, iron-muscled shoulder an affectionate squeeze then said, "Get everyone, shinobi and civilian alike aboard this ship and make for Wave Country. Find shelter somewhere on the seaward side of the island far away from its port city." The Nikai patriarch then folded his hands behind his back and strolled to the railing.

The sea before his eyes stretched out to meet the distance in an infinity of blue. He turned then and looked over the deck of the Fire-Tongue Ship and the battery after battery of rocket launchers that stood upon it; then the others, just like this one, waiting at anchor nearby. "I have unfinished business with Kirigakure," he explained in a tone as distant as the clouds, "and so I will take the three remaining ships our enemies have kindly given us…and lay waste to the city using the very weapons they used to destroy us."

* * *

**Naruto**

Freshly-showered and wearing crisp new clothes, Naruto wandered lightheartedly down the hallway and out into a glass-paned conservatory where the glowing rays of bright sunshine brought him immediately to a stop as his pupils, unaccustomed to the light after days spent in quarantine, constricted painfully. Once adjusted, the boy picked his way past the rows and rows of colorful and fragrant blooms redolent with perfume to a terrace that overlooked a breathtaking garden overlooking the sea.

A wide smile spread over his whisker-marked face as he took in the fresh, sea air and the fanciful, fairytale architecture of Castle Hirai: sweeping, clay-tiled hip roofs and towers soaring against the backdrop of cerulean sky, beneath them walls of ancient stone that landed upon a cascading series of gardens each one more splendid than the last. Everywhere drifted the faint music of bells which hung every so often along the perimeter and from every broad overhang.

As his sapphire eyes wandered over splendid, geometrically-conceived flower beds laid out in crisp, intricate patterns, ornamental shrubs and noble, green topiary animals, they came to rest on a solitary figure - a slender, raven-haired beauty in a kimono of pure white and pastel blues with her gaze fixed raptly upon the horizon. Naruto's mind wandered romantically for a bit then abruptly returned.

_What?_ he realized with a frown, jarred unpleasantly from his fantasy. _Aww, that's just Haku again. _

The genin's expression flickered ambivalently. Without Haku, he'd still be trapped on that stupid little island, starving and going crazy while waiting around for some weirdo mist-ninja to come back and _eat_ him. The black-haired teenager had rescued him but even so Naruto wasn't totally sure how things stood between them.

Never one not to force the issue, Naruto narrowed his gaze and galloped down the steps then made his way along paths paved in stone, across a lush lawn softer than carpet under his booted feet to join the ninja at the guard-wall. Smirking cleverly, Naruto grabbed a handful of the older teenager's butt then laughed hard when Haku jumped in surprise and turned with a look of truly uncharacteristic discombobulation.

"What, it's your own fault," Naruto explained through his pealing laughter, unrepentant mischievousness evident in his broad, Cheshire-cat grin, "for being prettier than most girls!"

The taller ninja's delicate dignity rumpled beyond repair, Haku looked askance at the blond. "Maybe it is…and for forgetting you're out of your mind."

The mood settled into something of a strained silence and Naruto noticed Hideo standing apart from them. The strange, pale and squat figure looked toward the pair briefly before returning his glassy-eyed attention elsewhere.

Naruto snuck a glance back at Haku and worried his lip. He didn't remember much about what had happened in Kirigakure after the ambush. The Nine-Tail's chakra sealed inside him had gotten loose, gotten away from him, had taken over. That part seemed pretty clear. Though he and Haku had talked about it before, talked _around_ it mostly, Naruto wasn't sure how what had happened would change things. After all, he'd been feared and hated for years in the Hidden Leaf Village because of the Kyuubi and still was by some, especially by those who had seen it, by those it had _hurt._

"It was bad, wasn't it?" the blond asked at last in a hushed, rasping tone as his fingers wandered absently over the capstone's roughness.

"What was?"

Naruto grumbled at having to explain what he didn't want to. "You know…'it'."

"Oh," Haku's expression rose with understanding. "Yes. 'It' was," he offered plainly then seemed to regret it. "I'm sorry to say it that way but it's probably better that you know. That chakra, that power inside you, is almost indescribable. It's a frightening and terrible thing, wild, evil, capable of -," the former Demon's Apprentice stopped himself then shrugged.

Naruto's heart sank. Among the worst fears that he could never completely shake was that those who loathed him, who ignored and avoided him had every right to; that he could never overcome the curse of bearing the Demon-Fox no matter what he did.

"But," Haku went on in a lighter tone, "I suppose I don't have the right be too critical. You and…the _Kyuubi,_" he made a point of saying, "did save my life after all. I hope that doesn't make me sound selfish."

At just the flash of Haku's quick smile, sad as this one was, Naruto brightened. The Nine-Tails had cost him a lot but at least here was one friend it hadn't.

"So I guess we're not sick," Naruto ventured, looking on the bright side, eager now to move on. "I mean, since old-man Hirai's medical guys looked us over top-to-bottom and kept us locked up all that time before finally letting us go."

Haku nodded broodingly, seeming more intent on the gentle waves rolling below.

As the breeze stirred his hair, the young leaf-ninja's yellow brows knitted with puzzlement. "So…_how come_ we're not sick?"

"That's a very good question, Naruto," answered Haku at last. "Since, from what Lord Hirai told us, plague has broken out in Kirigakure. Lord Tsujita, contrary to what he told me, was surely the source. Being that we had such close contact with him at the end it would make sense that we _should_ be infected."

"Maybe the old guy didn't want us to be," the leaf-ninja suggested.

"Pestilence was his blood-gift. He might have had that fine a control over it." Zabuza's student let the idea linger for a moment then hung his head. "This whole thing was a mistake. I'm so stupid, Naruto," he confided in an aching voice, "for believing that we could stop what generations of war, hatred and fear have led to."

"What do you mean?" answered Naruto sharply. "We had to try. You know we had to try."

"But what did we accomplish," Haku countered, "nothing."

The yellow-haired boy turned toward him. "It's not about that! We tried to save all those people because it matters, because it's worth fighting for…even if…well, even if it didn't work out like we thought."

"No Naruto, no," Haku insisted coldly. "Leaping blindly into a fight armed only with good intentions isn't noble, it's just stupid. We might have just made matters worse. I'm only now starting to realize that there's much more going on in Kirigakure no Sato than I'd thought. After everything Zabuza taught me and told me, I really should have known better."

"Your assessment is entirely correct, Haku," Lord Hirai's kingly voice interrupted, making the two young ninjas whirl. Clearly, the man's advanced age had not affected his ability to move silently. "However, what you children ascribe to as mere stupidity or, even more lamentably," he shot a disdainful glance at Naruto, "altruism, may in fact be providence."

Naruto scowled at the old man's condescension then noticed how Haku's gaze had fixed on the man their host had brought with them.

"Like a bad penny," Lord Hirai's companion, an ordinary-looking mist-shinobi with close-cropped brown hair, offered in a mild, nasally tone, "you just keep turning up. 'Surprised to see me again?"

Haku shook his head. "No, Mr. Sakurai, it stands to reason that Lord Hirai has spies keeping watch over important figures like Lady Inoue, and that it was you who added my assumed identity of Hiroo Okame to her files of active mist-shinobi. I can't help but wonder why though."

"Not just Inoue's but the official archives in Kirigakure too," the ninja, Sakurai, bragged then shrugged. "Maybe it was all in anticipation of something just like this."

"Suffice it to say," Hirai cut in impatiently, "that there is in fact more going on than you know. You came to the Hidden Mist Village, Haku, to save it from what you believed to be clans of ninja set on revenge. That part is merely the veil that obscures a much more elaborate design, one that reestablishes the Mist Village in the Land of Waves and installs my fellow councilwoman, Lady Chinami Inoue as the Fifth Mizukage."

Haku gaped slightly but fought to maintain a stoic, skeptical demeanor.

"Oh yes, you had the privilege of meeting her didn't you?" Hirai continued. "No doubt the Grande Dame of the Inoue Clan charmed you with visions of a magnificent future whilst you toured her works. I wonder if she made it clear that the future she described is built over the bones of the present. In light of what I've just told you, I'm sure you can apprehend how those with minds consumed with revenge are easily manipulated and anticipated…like Tohma Nikai and Noriyasu Tsujita. Yes, those two are not unknown to me. You must also understand that Lady Inoue would certainly never leave the necessary destruction of the current Mist Village to a clot of wild-eyed exiles living in the hinterlands."

Naruto watched the interplay between old ninja and young, beguiled at the depths of the intrigue unfolding and grateful that things were simpler in Konoha. Though, thinking about it, both Kakashi-sensei and Master Jiraiya sometimes hinted otherwise.

"She sent her own plague," concluded Haku who squeezed his eyes shut. "It didn't matter that Lord Tsujita had a change of heart."

While Sakurai turned grim, Hirai nodded. "More likely a poison, young master, since it's easier to administer and control. Real plagues tend to be unruly. The Tsujita's reappearance in the Mist Village; the spectacle of their clan patriarch's death there completes the power of suggestion. That is enough."

"Wait," Naruto broke in aghast. "Wait, wait, wait! You're saying that this councilwoman is gonna kill everyone in the Mist Village with a fake plague just to make herself Mizukage? THAT'S what this is all about?"

The silver-haired shinobi grimaced as if just the sound of Naruto's emotional and gravelly tenor pained him. "Her aims reach far beyond personal ambition," he answered then returned to Haku, "far beyond the ambition of even your late master, Zabuza. What she intends is nothing less than the creation of a new Mist Village informed by the tenets of her philosophy. The dissolution of the present one, the erasure of it's past are merely the means to an end."

It took a moment for the young ninja to digest the enormity of what the mist-ninja had just explained. Naruto grit his teeth. His fists balled. "How do we stop her?" he growled.

Hirai returned with an impatient sniff. "Not everything in this world can be moved by your personal intervention, child, despite what you believe or whatever so-called 'powers' you possess. Lady Inoue's plan, no matter how carefully prepared, hinges on a chain of events, each adding the necessary momentum to the next. If even one of those events is arrested then the momentum is stilled and her plan fails. I am taking the necessary steps.

"Of much greater immediate concern is that this scheme of hers has had an unintended consequence the origins of which wind back along a chain of causality to YOU, Haku."

This time, Haku couldn't hide his surprise at the ancient ninja's remark.

"In the aftermath of Zabuza's attempt (and yours) on his life, the Fourth Mizukage, Lord Oku did something unspeakably foolish. He struck a deal with the oldest and worst of the Land of Water's enemies, the 108 Demons, releasing them from the captivity imposed upon them by our First Mizukage under the condition that they serve him. Now that he's dead, having been cleverly dispatched by Lady Inoue's conspirators, these demons, walking around in the form of the man Lord Oku sacrificed to them, have been left to their own devices and pose an even graver threat to the Mist Village than my colleague's plans."

A vision of the unnaturally large, mustachioed mist-ninja, Krishenay Rahaman made Naruto's eyed bug wide. "That's that crazy guy who wanted to eat me!" he blurted. "So you're saying that there's like 108 demons all crunched up inside him?" The ninja made a face. For the first time in his life the young teenager felt lucky that HE had only one; it was trouble enough.

Ignoring the blond, Hirai continued: "When we met last, you left me more than angry and disappointed with you, Haku. Your actions showed me that, despite appearances, you are callow and impulsive; you know little of the world and the forces that move it. Still, I set aside any ill feelings due to your youth and the sacrifices your Aramata clan have made in the past. When you set out to save Kirigakure you proved that my forbearance was justified. You were willing to risk your life to preserve the Mist Village. My question to you now is: are you still?"

Haku paused, clearly annoyed at how obvious the answer was – so obvious that the old man needn't have asked. "Yes," he admitted anyway.

Hirai gave him an approving nod. "As I thought."

For the first time then their host seemed to lose his focus and foundered uncomfortably not knowing what to say. After a lengthy pause he offered, "While you were enjoying your respite, Haku, I was having a," the tall, grey-haired man fell silent then cleared his throat, "chat…about you with my grandmother, and yours, young lord. Not surprisingly," his steely eyes flickered up, "they wish to meet you."

While Haku froze in disbelief, Naruto goggled. "YOUR grandmother?" the genin crowed; blue eyes goggled innocently. "But she must be like 50,000 years old!"

Long held-back temper worked its way through Lord Hirai's reserve as his wizened lips wriggled and he gushed with unrestrained anger, "This is no concern of YOURS, _jinchuuriki!_"

Though Naruto had never heard _that_ word before, the boy recoiled reflexively at the venom in the old man's voice, the palpable hate every bit as potent as that he'd experienced for years growing up in the village the demon inside him had once destroyed.

"Now then," said the clan patriarch, again the very paragon of composure, "come along, Haku. There's still much more I have to explain and time is running short."

Haku started reluctantly to follow then cast a trailing look back at Naruto and, prevailing on the ninja lord, asked: "One moment, please?"

Naruto waited as Haku drew close to him and rested his hands on his shoulders. "Listen, Naruto," he began in a hushed, urgent tone. "You have to get out of here. Go back to the Leaf Village." His features pinched. "Hopefully Chuuya and Inari haven't killed each other yet."

"What do you mean? What are you -?"

"Naruto! I haven't known Lord Hirai very long, but long enough to know how he thinks. Look around, look at this place. This castle is a model of exactly how he views the world."

Naruto shook his head, completely puzzled by the dread in his friend's voice. "But," he contended, "what's wrong with it; it's amazing, isn't it?"

"Look again," the taller ninja instructed in tired frustration. "Look at the trees, the plantings. Do you ever see anything like them in nature?"

The blonde's blue eyes settled on a hedge - a solid-looking block of green with its corners trimmed at perfect right angles, then on a row of ornamental trees with their canopies shaped into equally precise-looking spheres. "Come on, Haku, you're being all -."

"Look DOWN. Look at the grass," continued the fifteen-year old, this time with an insistent vehemence in his grey eyes that made Naruto doubt his sanity. "Every blade that stood too tall has been cut short. Every blade that was too short has been weeded out. People are no different. If they exist in his world it is for a reason. It is to serve as part of his plan, an element of his design. If you stay here any longer he will make you into a part of that plan."

Haku risked a quick look back at his towering, ancient host who glowered with increasing impatience.

"Naruto," he went on in a whisper, "after I ruined his plan to destroy Wave Country, Lord Hirai let me live for a reason. He's aided me ever since for a reason and when I begged him to help me get you back from wherever Rahaman took you he agreed and I assure you it was not out of sympathy.

"I'm about to find out right now what he wants from me," said Haku with a frown. "Whatever it is, Naruto, you must let ME deal with it alone and YOU – just get yourself home. Get poor Chuuya and Inari home and tell them to tell Mari," the ninja struggled in thought, pain shimmering in his eyes, "tell her…just tell her that I'm sorry."

With that, Haku spun away and rushed after the elderly Councilman who was already marching off with the other mist-ninja, Sakurai, at his side.

"Hey, wait a minute," Naruto called to his back, "you can't just -!"

Haku's returned glare of burning, desperate frustration, so different from any side of him Naruto had ever seen before brought him to silence. He watched his friend turn then stalk away to join their host, Lord Hirai, pausing only to shoot a glance at the distant Hideo who nodded almost imperceptibly in return.

As Haku fell in beside the old man, headed back into the depths of his castle, Naruto could only watch not knowing what to do. Though guilt pulled on him for having forgotten about his young friends Inari and Chuuya taking his place in the Leaf Village, tickling the back of his mind was the idea that this was close, way too close, to how he'd lost Sasuke.

* * *

**Sentimental Gentlemen**

At the bottom of a muddy, slow-moving river a catfish of unusual size napped in the silt. All at once it came awake, aware, alert and full of purpose then proceeded at once upstream. Breaking the surface, it thrashed in the unfamiliar world of air and light before coughing up an object lodged in its gizzard that hadn't been there minutes before and sending it flying end-over-end in the direction of a dark shape that towered along the bank.

A blue hand, massively strong and calloused from a thousand battles, took the spinning scroll-case effortlessly from the air, opened it then unrolled and upheld the message inside for a pair of cruel, glassy eyes to read.

Rolling laughter issued over sharp, triangular teeth. If there was a point where a man, by both fickle nature and the cumulative power of deliberate action, ceased being human then he had passed it long ago.

"Hey!" crowed Kissame Hoshigake in the direction of his more meditative partner who sat cross-legged atop a large, flat stone as if in contemplation of the void. "You won't believe this," he continued, flicking his fingertips against the paper with a snap. "Guess who's been spotted tearing up my home town?"

If the monster's news moved him at all it wasn't apparent, for Itachi Uchiha, no less a monster in his own right, barely stirred beneath his high-collared cloak of fuliginous black adorned with clouds of crimson.

"There's no need to guess, Kissame," he answered dispassionately. "The tone in your voice explains everything. It's the Nine-Tails. 'Strange that its jinchuuriki, that Uzumaki child, would stray so far from home."

"Kirigakure no Sato," said Kissame as if to himself, savoring the words before shooting a glance again at Itachi. "It's been a long time, 'brother'. You hear that, Samehada?" he went on, turning toward his surpassingly-strange, enormous and bandage-swathed facsimile of a sword then hoisting it aloft. "It looks like we're having fox for dinner."

A rumbling growl issued from the weapon as an undulant ripple of appreciation traveled up and down its length.

At this, the slayer of all but one of his own Uchiha clan turned toward Kissame; his expression unconcerned, his infamous, spectral eyes blacker than black under his leaf-ninja's hitai-ate marked long ago with a diagonal slash through its swirling emblem. "We DO have to deliver him alive, remember."

"Sure brother, sure," Kissame assured him suavely though, in truth, there was no need. Despite his aura of wildness and nearly matchless powers he was, after all, a shinobi and dedicated to his master's call. He knew very well whose banner he served under and would never stray. "I haven't forgotten. Still," he considered with a leering, shark-toothed smile, "no one will mind if we take a little bite for ourselves. It's only right."

The taller of the Akatsuki took Itachi's silence for assent.

* * *

That's the end for this arc: The Wonders of the Deep. I hope you'll be back for the next one: House of Candlelight.


	27. House of Candlelight Part 1

_Hey! Sorry for the delay. I'ts been crazy, and having a crazy life isn't improving my writing ability. As lumpy and overlong as my latest chapter is, I hope you like it._

_Tah shakur,_

_-J_

* * *

**Part 6 – House of Candlelight**

Kirigakure reels gripped with plague while Mei and a handful of loyal shinobi try to keep it from going under. Haku falls under Lord Hirai's thrall and is charged with ridding the doomed city of the 108 Demons but it's Naruto who might be in far greater danger.

* * *

Lord! Here comes the flood

We'll say goodbye to flesh and blood

If again, the seas are silent in any still alive

It'll be those who gave their island who survive

Drink up, dreamers!

You're running dry.

-Here Comes the Flood, Peter Gabriel

* * *

**Shikamaru**

With his hands in his pockets and absorbed in thought, Shikamaru Nara paced down a quiet, Konoha side-street, having taken the long way home to avoid the noisier and more crowded byways. The young ninja's initial anger at his former classmate, Naruto, had cooled to what might be described more accurately as an _intense _degree of annoyance once the chunin had heard the whole story from Sakura and those two kids from Wave Country. Still, a sour expression prevailed over his pale, oval-shaped face and for once the black-haired teenager didn't feel that his customary epithet of 'troublesome' even began to define the boundaries of his particular predicament this time.

_Ok,_ he came to accept begrudgingly, _so you didn't just run off to Kirigakure 'cause you were bored or feeling especially stupid. You wanted to help Haku who, I guess, if I'm following this right, tried to kill you about a year ago in Wave Country but didn't and now you're friends and that was actually him who was here earlier in the Leaf Village during that whole 'Sound Cell Infiltrators' incident._

Shikamaru released a tired breath. Considering WHO was involved he couldn't really pretend to be that surprised. _Only you, Naruto, only you._

_Alright,_ he told himself, getting down to business,_ so I should probably get Chouji to go because we work well together. Sakura wants to go and probably should. She has good medical skills, better than Ino's and, if anyone can calm Naruto down in case he's a problem (assuming we actually find him), she can._

So engrossed was the chunin in processing everything Tsunade had told him, planning for the upcoming excursion and putting together a team that Shikamaru didn't even notice Kiba Inuzuka's approach until he looked up to find the ninja walking right beside him with his companion puppy Akamaru sitting cozily atop his hooded head.

Shikamaru did a double-take and frowned. "'Something I can help you with?" he inquired tensely, his overall irritation leaking through.

"We're going with you," stated Kiba.

The taller ninja's dark eyes narrowed guardedly. "What are you talking about?"

"The Mist Village, Naruto and all-a-that. We're going."

Shikamaru slowed, stopped then looked askance at his former classmate. "How do you know about that? I just found out a few minutes ago…and the Hokage a few minutes before that."

Kiba flashed a gleaming, fanged, lopsided smile and shrugged, all without disturbing Akamaru, then tapped his hitai-ate. "Hey, I _am_ a ninja after-all," he pointed out in his inimitably assertive nonchalance. "And my ears are almost as good as my nose. Plus," the teenager pointed out, gesturing around him, "this is the Leaf Village. Word travels fast and, apparently, desks too if they're thrown hard enough."

Shikamaru winced at this unexpected complication, shook his head and started to turn away until Kiba gripped his shoulder. "Hey," continued the wolfish genin much more seriously, "come on. You need me. Who's a better tracker than me?"

The taller leaf-ninja turned back with a cool smile. "Technically, _Shino_ is," he riposted then watched, somewhat surprised, as the confidence washed from Kiba's face to be replaced with a smoldering, barely-subdued intensity. "Hey, easy," Shikamaru offered in hurried placation as he tried to walk his cutting remark back, "I was only kidding. Since when are you so thin-skinned?"

Kiba's wildish eyes flicked away then back to look squarely at Shikamaru who imagined for a moment that he just might be about to get bit!

"Okay!" the chunin relented, hands upheld. "You're right, I need a tracker. I was probably going to have to drag you into this anyway; I just didn't know you'd get so worked up about it. You can come."

The youngest of the Inuzuka clan returned a tight smile. "Good. We'll see you at the East Gate in the morning then," he replied crisply then spun around and marched off.

A nonplussed Shikamaru watched him go, blinked then stared at Kiba's retreating back in puzzlement. _What the hell was THAT all about? Has everyone gone crazy around here?_

* * *

**Team Konohamaru**

Way, way, WAY up in a towering pine in the middle of dense forest a large, U-shaped desk hung, held in place by a twisted tangle of needled, evergreen branches. One-hundred and sixty-some feet below, Ebisu-sensei, Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon all craned their necks, standing in a hemi-circle as they looked up.

Konohamaru's eyebrows furrowed angrily. "You said this was going to be a REAL ninja mission, sensei!" the brown-haired boy ranted then set down his armload of drawers, miscellaneous files and office supplies they'd retrieved along the way, having followed them like the proverbial trail of breadcrumbs to reach this point, then adjusted the hang of his absurdly long, blue scarf.

The boy's tutor, Ebisu, dressed all in stiff black, pushed the dark circles of his glasses further up on the bridge of his tapered, pale nose and countered: "This IS a real mission – a D-rank that was originally going to be assigned to a team of newly-graduated genin. I thought you and your friends might benefit from the exercise. Rather than complaining, 'honorable grandson', you might think of some way of getting Lady Tsunade's desk down." The jonin gave his charge a bleak, deliberate glance. "And I _mean_ intact."

While Konohamaru fumed and scowled, balling his fists in frustration, Moegi quivered with mirth then giggled. "It looks kinda like a giant or something was playing horseshoes!" The redhead paused and puzzled in thought for a moment. "That desk must be REALLY well constructed."

Udon wiped his nose, raised his goggles from his eyes to his forehead and chuckled. "Hey, Konohamaru," the boy ventured, "I won't tell anyone you were touching the Hokage's 'drawers'."

"Shut up," Konohamaru snapped spastically, "it's not funny. We're _ninjas_, not-not…not furniture delivery guys!"

Moegi glared at her supposed, unofficial team leader and snapped back, "He was only joking, Konohamaru! Lighten up!"

Ebisu-sensei, long-since accustomed to such scintillating repartee, sighed then attempted to restore order. "This may seem like a trivial task," he chided, "but it's important that you children understand that there are no unnecessary missions. If the Hokage assigned it then it's critical in some way, however small, to the future of the Hidden Leaf Village." The man sniffed nobly and crossed his rangy arms as all three kids gave him a dubious look.

"Just get the desk," Ebisu directed.

Konohamaru made a face but then suddenly went pale and grabbed his stomach, drawing curious looks.

"Konohamaru," squeaked Moegi with concern, "are-are you feeling ok?"

The ten-year old wobbled a little, looking quite out of sorts, dropped to his knees right then and there and, much to everyone's surprise, vomited noisily and messily onto the forest floor.

Team Konohamaru, with the obvious exception of their leader, and Ebisu-sensei turned to stare with their faces frozen in curdled expressions until silence again prevailed, interrupted only by the brown-haired boy's residual, rasping, dripping breaths.

"I didn't think this mission was THAT bad," commented a dismayed Udon who again wiped his nose.

* * *

**Krishenay**

The 108 Demons sat on the floor, cross-legged among the corpses some of which lay twisted amidst upended furniture or sprawled in heaps near the doors and windows. The city, Kirigakure, was quickly becoming littered with the dead and the dying, awash in a misery and despair that gave the chakra on which the unearthly congregation fed an especially succulent quality. From behind glassy, years-dead eyes, the demon controlling their vessel's mustachioed face made it smile. It had only been through pure providence that they'd been on-hand while the curious plots of men beset their own Village with plague. Surely such plentitude as this, gained without effort, was deserving of physical expression or maybe that was just a human conceit that it and they had picked up somewhere along the way.

The face frowned. Chakra of this sort, though tremendously satisfying, was not the kind that sustained. It was not the kind on which they could grow stronger and the multitude sequestered within Krishenay's body knew this very well.

_The Kyuubi escaped._ A wave of communal disappointment shuddered through them – through all one hundred and eight. Now _there_ was a chakra they could feed on for lifetimes, a bounteous ocean of life-energy! And though there was much conjecture over how it had happened they all agreed that they shouldn't be too surprised for the Fox is nothing if not crafty.

_Patience,_ the demon-governor of the higher functions advised. Time was long and they had forever to hunt, not just the Kyuubi no Yoko but all the rest of the tailed beasts. More immediately: Kirigakure would soon find itself a city of corpses whether they acted or not which seemed like such a shame in a way. Their revenge would have been so much sweeter if it had arrived in the Mist Village as a fresh, unexpected terror rather than as a mere exacerbation of ones already present. Still, none of the one-hundred and eight could gainsay the circumstances that had led to their collective freedom from the Fourth Mizukage's tenuous hold or allowed them to preside over the Mist Village's downfall however it came about. Besides, even if Kirigakure were spared in some way a full reckoning there was still the rest of the Land of Water on which to unleash their judgment.

Before then though they'd need to slake their appetites with more nutritious fare – chakra on a magnitude few humans possessed. The tactic they'd decided to employ made perfect sense and they all agreed - to let their bottomless hungers rage unleashed, GORGE, FEAST, not only to quell their urges but to draw out the Mist Village's remaining champions and force a confrontation. Unlike before, this time, even if the herd had among their depleted ranks a shinobi the caliber of the First Mizukage, the 108 Demons had little to fear.

A ripple of anticipated pleasure passed through the legions lodged within the shell of what used to be a man named Krisheney Rahaman. Their decades of lightless incarceration and years of humiliating servitude were about to be transformed into a sublime state of unfettered freedom coupled with nearly unlimited power.

The vision of such a bounteous and prosperous future put the congregation at ease.

* * *

**Haku**

With his mind spinning from their earlier conversation, Haku followed Lord Kissohomaru Hirai through the sprawling estate that bore his clan's name. They wound through galleries housing weapons and suits of armor, paintings or _objets d'art_ and crossed through garden courtyards where children played – all of them obedient and observant enough to stop whatever it was they were doing and bow, deeply and respectfully to their Grand Patriarch.

Preoccupied as Haku was, the young ninja couldn't help but gawk at the grandeur and opulence that conjured from his memory some of the samurai epics he used to watch, and could easily imagine some white-faced empress dowager regarding him coolly from behind her latticed window high up in one of Castle Hirai's towers, guarded by fearsome swordsmen and with an army of black-clad ninjas (all much more masculine and imposing than him) at her command. This was all so different from bustling Wave Country and his musty basement lodging with the Tezukas and reminded him, in some ways acutely, of the offer he'd turned down. Not that he harbored any regrets, of course; it was just that having passed up the chance to possess truly colossal wealth was hard to banish from his thoughts completely.

The sight of all the servile manciples about on their menial tasks, dressed in the grey uniforms of a non-person, indicating that they should be ignored as part of the background, served as a reminder that wealth on that scale almost always came at another's cost.

Their path took them through a library wing and then past a training hall where three generations of noble Hirai, nearly all of them shinobi, bowed reverently to their elder as he passed but regarded his girlish, floral-kimono wearing 'guest' with glances that were concerned or amused at best and dripping with undisguised contempt at worst. Now, much more than he'd had in a while, Haku felt distinctly alone and out of place – a pale and feminine outcast within this shark tank of Kirigakure's elite.

_What a lie,_ he could almost hear Zabuza's voice hiss. _You're still the killer I made you to be. They should tremble before YOU._ And the truth was that he, his master and all his zealous followers had probably killed Hirai loyalists by the score back in the full flower of the Demon of the Hidden Mist's revolutionary days.

The teenager bridled, stung by the recollection, but could not deny the truth of it. A killer was never what he'd wanted to be and yet out of love for his sensei he'd killed an awful lot of people. After that, out of love for Mari and a deep, all-possessing need to protect his new home and new life, the former Demon's Apprentice had killed a whole lot more. Despite all that, the teenager spared himself a full reckoning and took a measure of solace in the knowledge that he was no longer JUST a killer.

_Maybe that is what I was before but not anymore._

Now, over a year since his master's death, he'd found himself (often to his surprise) capable of being more. He'd become a friend, a boyfriend, a sensei and a constable – someone whose newfound purpose in life was to help people and he liked to think that he had. What salved his spiking conscious the most though were his memories of those close to him: Mari, Chuuya and their family; Inari and his; Naruto and even Orimi. At the same time they made Haku realize quite acutely that, unlike his days with Zabuza, his death would not go un-mourned and unmarked. He was no longer a tool easily discarded and replaced. His death would _matter_. Being aware of that brought a strange sense of responsibility the ninja still hadn't quite gotten used to.

Walking with his grey eyes fixed on Lord Hirai's back, Haku returned to what the silver-haired man had told him. _'I was having a little chat about you with my grandmother…and yours…'_ That's what he'd said.

Haku frowned. Being that Lord Hirai was at least in his nineties, the thought of HIS grandmother having anything to say about anything seemed a bit farfetched. As for his _own_ grandmother…

"Your clan, the Aramata," intoned Hirai as if eavesdropping on his thoughts, "they were heroes, you know."

Haku's brow rose at first then narrowed suspiciously at the elderly ninja-lord's words, wondering what kind of reaction the councilor was trying to provoke. "They were scapegoats in the purest sense of the word," the teenager couldn't help but counter sourly. "Kirigakure blamed them and the rest of the blood-gifted clans for the civil wars, fired the Land of Water's anger against them using fear as a tool. It was easy enough to do because people always fear those who are different. Then they destroyed us using a secret cache of forbidden weapons. The rest were hunted down like animals."

"I see," Hirai muttered direly in response, his smooth strides nearly silent as he walked. "You're not entirely ignorant of the un-varnished history but you've missed the point."

What the former Demon's Apprentice took for callousness, intended or not, struck him like a blow. "What point? I've _been_ to Kaori no Hana island, walked among the ruins of Castle Aramata. It's a grave. The family I never knew died in flames."

"So that an entire nation could live!" the old man snapped over his shoulder. "As gifted as you are, do you think your forbearers were any less so? Do you imagine they were blind and deaf, ignorant to what was happening?"

The teenager's eyes flickered. "What are you saying?"

"You'll find out soon enough," answered Hirai with a sharp sniff. "It's clear to me that you distrust my motives, find them incomprehensible if not sinister, so you're sure to doubt anything I say. Ha! You must have thought me quite the monster for attempting to destroy your precious, adopted home of Wave Country. 'What a vicious and senseless old man! How could he?'" the ninja mocked. "I trust you see my wisdom more clearly now in hindsight."

Haku grimaced in exasperation even as he had to acknowledge that Lord Hirai had a point – the destruction of Wave Country might indeed have spared the Mist Village its current travails or at least postponed them.

It was an awful way of thinking, the teenager couldn't help but note. In the Councilor's world, the razing of the entire city and putting all its people to death would have been nothing more than a simple, precautionary gambit – take a piece out of play and thereby thwart his rival Lady Inoue's plans even if he hadn't been entirely sure what they were at the time. Then again, considering the old shinobi's devotion to order, maybe he simply couldn't stand the idea of a country adjacent to the Land of Waves going un-ruled.

The Mist Village's other councilor, Lady Inoue, charming and sympathetic as she'd been, was no better – destroy the old Kirigakure to make way for a new one more to her liking. In the equations writ large by both their ideologies, human lives didn't count for much.

It hurt to suppose that he himself was little different but there had definitely been a time, and it was not that long ago, when Haku had been nothing more than a weapon wielded by his master's will. People had meant little to him compared to Zabuza's dreams. Would HE have destroyed Wave Country or murdered innocent civilians if the Demon of the Hidden Mist had so ordered? Haku couldn't help but wonder. It was hard to say though he'd always believed in his heart that he would, whatever his misgivings. Zabuza, for his part, had never asked such a thing of him; never. Maybe it simply hadn't come up…or maybe the fearsome mist-jonin appreciated the capabilities and limitations of his weapon better than he'd let on. Either way, if Haku had learned nothing else since Zabuza's death it was that he'd been wrong. Lives, even truly wretched ones, were priceless because they were irreplaceable and, though the inexplicable alchemy of time, chance, experience, love and loss could be transformed. Hadn't Haku learned that himself?

Looking up at the tall, silver-haired ninja-patriarch, Haku doubted there was anything he could say or do to make Lord Hirai fathom his admittedly complicated sensibilities and could only imagine that his awkwardly-phrased offerings would clatter impotently off a stratum of calcified ideas more than ninety years in the making.

"What is it you really want?" he blurted at last out of pure weariness.

Replied Lord Hirai with barely a pause: "I already told you, Haku. I want you to save Kirigakure."

* * *

**Mari**

Making her way home from the markets, laden wicker baskets in hand, the Wave Country girl tried not to think – to just keep herself focused on the mundane activities of life: watching the porters and fishermen come and go or make a mental note of who was new in town. Even just staring up at the sky or down at her own two feet, watching them cycle back and forth over the paving stones as she walked, was preferable to anything else. So far the tactic wasn't working.

_Haku's gone…still!_ she pondered sullenly.

No one had heard a word from him or Naruto either. What made things worse: Chuuya and Inari, who were only supposed to fetch the yellow-headed ninja had instead decided to remain in Konoha, apparently to cover up the fact that he'd left!

Inwardly, Mari shriveled.

The little problem with this unexpected and bafflingly stupid complication was that the pretext of the two boys being away on a 'camping trip' had gone up in flames after a full week at which Mari's parents along with Tazuna and Tsunami, all equally furious, had wrung the truth from her…or most of it. She hadn't been able to tell them (and, in truth, it had seemed extremely detrimental to her health to volunteer) that sending the pair of fledgling ninjas off on a mission in the first place had been her idea or that she'd known about it the whole time. Mari could hardly bear it herself – that she had shoved her own brother into a world of countless unknown dangers and now there was no telling what had happened to him or his friend.

In hindsight what appalled Mari the most was that it really hadn't seemed like that bad of an idea at the time. It had been so easy to fool herself into believing that all those crazy techniques, martial-arts moves and jutsus they'd learned from Haku made them more than the stupid little ten-year olds they were; that sending them off to the Hidden Leaf Village just for a visit, just long enough to give Naruto a message would be as simple as it sounded.

_Dammit! Even Haku almost got himself killed there!_ _What was I thinking!_ she lamented. _NOTHING involving ninja shit is EVER simple!_

"Excuse, me," a voice interrupted, distracting her from her burning, oft-repeated reverie. "Mari? Mari Tezuka?"

Her dark eyes darted toward the offender - a tall boy, athletic and not bad looking, with tied-up black hair and a sort of stuck-up / serious expression on his oval face. But, first of all, the girl hated it when people she didn't know just came at her as if they did. Second of all, she wasn't in the mood for any more complications in her life and, third and final, she'd lived in Wave Country way too long not to realize that good things and good people NEVER came looking for you. Those were things that had to be sought…or chanced upon.

"What?" Mari answered testily without slowing. She was nearly home anyway.

"I'd like -," the stranger went on, pausing to veer clumsily out of the way of oncoming pedestrians, "—I want to talk to you about Hiroo Okame if you don't mind. It won't take long."

The black-haired girl grimaced and shot him an acidic look. "He's out on a mission somewhere. I can't talk about it."

Mari turned down the front walk to her house, stepped up onto the porch and unlocked the door, borderline angry that the kid was still glued to her side after getting what most people would rightly take as 'the brush-off'. "Look! I told you," the teenager asserted sternly as she stepped inside and set down her baskets, "he's on constable's business. If you've got something to ask you'll have to wait to ask him when he gets back."

The stranger's demeanor shifted subtly as he stooped slightly and replied in a quieter, more level tone: "Who I _really_ have to talk to you about is Haku."

Without so much as a flicker of recognition, the girl looked at him coolly then replied in a voice of pure, measured indifference: "Never heard of him," she said and shut the door forcefully in the boy's surprised face, throwing the latch-bolt home with a pronounced 'clack'.

_Haku,_ Mari thought, slumped and rested her freckled forehead against the door. _How does that guy know about Haku? This is bad!_

The girl turned, deeply worried, memories filled with zodiac-masked killers and murderous she-devil apprentices then gasped with a squeak as she found the tall, black-haired kid standing right there behind her in the hallway.

"Listen, Mari – HEY!" the stranger yelped. It was only because he obviously had some thorough training in tai-jutsu, not to mention splendid reflexes, that he was able to duck the knockout power of the girl's overhand left then fade back enough to avoid a stinging, follow-up right. "Mari!" he barked with a tenor of command and the girl paused though still with fists up and ready to go. "My name is Shikamaru. I'm a shinobi from the Village Hidden in the Leaves. It's very, very important that I get some information from you. We don't have to talk here in your house if you don't want to," the boy explained with calm gravity, "but we do have to talk…_now."_

Mari, scowling but curious, unlocked and opened the front door, ushered the raven-haired intruder out with a curt, sweeping gesture then followed him out onto the porch. There the fourteen year-old was surprised again for there were three others waiting – a fat kid with bushy brown hair, earrings and whorl tattoos on his chubby cheeks who crunched away on potato chips; a very pretty girl with pink hair; and then a kind-of-a-crazy-looking, outdoorsy-type with fierce eyes, a hooded jacket fringed with fur, half-crescent tattoos on his cheeks and an absolutely adorable little white puppy sitting alertly by his booted feet.

"This is my team: Chouji, Sakura and Kiba." The two boys nodded and muttered hello while the girl smiled and offered a wave. "Oh and that's Akamaru."

The puppy barked with an friendly-enough "HARF".

"Heaven and Earth," Mari offered upon review, quite unimpressed, then turned back to the one calling himself Shikamaru, "you're the _brains_ of the outfit!"

The tallest of the group took the not-so-subtle derision in stride. "I'm afraid so," he acknowledged in a weary tone. "Although if this was really a 'brains' operation, none of us would be here."

"So what do you guys want?"

"As I think you already know - one of our ninjas, Naruto Uzumaki, has gone off to Kirigakure no Sato to help your friend, Haku. We've been tasked to see to his return. Your little brother and his friend knew some details. We were hoping you might know more."

Mari's heart caught in her throat. Gathering her nerve she managed to ask: "H-how…how are Chuuya and Inari?"

Shikamaru smiled for the first time, just slightly, but Sakura broke in before he could speak. "They're both _fine_, Mari," the pink-haired girl gushed understandingly. "We dropped them off at Tazuna's house on the way here. We wanted to talk with you first and then leave you guys alone. I'm…I'm sure you got a lot of catching up to do."

"Thanks," answered Mari, so breathless with relief that she almost fainted. "I hope Tazuna and Tsunami weren't too mad."

The sudden silence and grey looks that fell across the faces of her visitors was enough to acquaint the girl with poor Inari's fate…and undoubtedly Chuuya's too once he got home.

The leaf-ninjas' black-haired leader reasserted himself: "We'd appreciate it if you'd tell us everything you know about why Naruto and Haku went to the Mist Village being that it's not exactly a sane idea for either of them to go _there_ even at the best of times. The kids mentioned something about some rival ninja clans trying to destroy the place?"

Mari chewed her lip as she calculated for a moment then nodded firmly. "Ok," she said finally. "I'll tell you everything…on ONE condition – that you find Haku too."

Shikamaru's dark eyes flickered for a moment and the shinobi started to say something diplomatic when Kiba broke in: "Don't worry about that, Mari," the wild-looking one answered in a determined voice, "we'll bring him back safe and at least _mostly _sound. I was gonna do that anyway."

Their leader stared for a second then squeezed the bridge of his nose. "Gee, Kiba, you might have filled me in on the part where you start changing the mission objectives…being that I'm team leader and all."

"Now what good would that have done?" answered Kiba casually, cocking his head and gesturing into the air. "You'd have just said it was 'troublesome' or something."

"Um," added Sakura, a bit less obliquely confrontational, "I was kind of hoping we'd be able to see if Haku was ok too?"

Shikamaru canted his gaze toward her and then at Chouji who only shrugged. The dark-haired ninja spread his hands and frowned. "Fine," he said in surrender. "We'll bring Haku too…IF we can."

Mari brightened. Shikamaru and Chouji she couldn't remember if Haku had mentioned or not but this Sakura had to be the same girl-ninja from the First Battle at the Bridge and who now knew how to heal people (that was good, right?). And Kiba was some kind of dog-master or something, a strong fighter and a pretty good person in general from what Haku had told her about his mission to Konoha a few weeks ago.

The idea of this unlikely-looking crew going out and bringing Naruto along with her wayward boyfriend back from Kirigakure still didn't offer much hope but at least it was better than nothing. In this life, sometimes, you just had to take what you could get.

* * *

**Shikamaru**

With his hands in his pockets as he stood with Sakura, Kiba and Chouji at the railing of a clattering and smoking, east-bound ship, Shikamaru supposed that his mind should be crunching calculations even now, coming up with just the right solution to wrest Naruto (and now Haku, he supposed) from the clutches of so many unknowns and return him safe and sound to the bosom of Konoha or the great BIG bosoms of Lady Tsunade whichever came first.

Mari's report sure hadn't made him feel any better and the chunin could feel the weight of this mission heavy upon him. He and his team were about to try and sneak into an enemy village known for its savagery that might already be under attack by an alliance of severely pissed-off, blood-gifted ninja clans. The chunin's three teammates, his _friends_, were ready to do whatever it took but they'd all be looking to their leader for direction so he'd better have something worked out or, as the famous poster said, this 'journey of a thousand miles' was indeed going to 'end very, very badly'.

For right now though, Shikamaru could think of nothing else but that last frustrating conversation he'd had with his father and the resulting decision he'd ended up making without really making it at all.

* * *

"_Dad," he remembered saying distinctly, beginning the conversation in his patented, very-serious, drop-an-octave tone as he looked over the shogi board at the battle-scarred man who bore much more than a little family resemblance to himself. "Lady Tsunade called me into her office today."_

"_Oh, I remember," chuckled Shikaku with a fiery grin. "That pink-haired girly's a handful!"_

_Shikamaru didn't bite and was not in the mood. "She gave me a new mission: it looks like Naruto Uzumaki's run off…to the Village Hidden in the Mist. I've been assigned to bring him back."_

_Shikaku's hand froze a moment before pushing a piece forward in a measured attack strategy. "He hasn't defected, has he?" the man asked with a pensive frown as he rubbed his stubbled chin. That was the elder Nara's version of hysterics._

"_Not as bad as that," Shikamaru answered, having duly noted the sudden tension in his father's voice and posture. "He's on some kind of 'personal business' or whatever, trying to help out a friend of his. Tsunade just about came unglued though. She said that Naruto's value to the village can't be overstated, that him being captured by Kirigakure would be catastrophic." The boy repeated for emphasis: "catastrophic, Dad. So I need to know – just what is it about that guy that makes him so important?"_

_Shikaku frowned, breathed in then out. "What Tsunade said is true, Shikamaru. But I can't tell you why."_

"_What?" coughed the teenager after a moment of disbelief. He blinked his dark eyes and leaned forward. "I'm not asking because I'm nosy. I'm asking because it should factor into my strategy. I'm a chunin now; don't you think I can keep a secret?"_

"_It's no reflection on you, son," the veteran explained. "The Third Hokage, Lord Sarutobi issued an edict that no one was to speak of it and Lady Tsunade hasn't said anything contrary to that. I mean to honor the oaths I swore to them; that's all."_

_Shikamaru stared. "Dad…come on. I swore oaths too. Why else do you think I'd even consider going to Kirigakure; you know the mist-ninjas' reputation better than I do!"_

_His father nodded understandingly but was clearly not about to give in. "It's a question of faith," he supplied. "Look, I followed Sarutobi's commands and follow Tsunade's for a reason, and it's not just 'cause they get to wear those big, fancy hats. It's because I believe in what they represent and because I trust their wisdom and judgment." The man chuckled sardonically, "At least more than I do my own."_

"_Uh-huh, meanwhile, that 'wisdom' is sending me, Sakura, Kiba and Chouji into a snake pit without the slightest idea why."_

_The man looked up gravely and said with an edge in his voice: "Don't you think that makes it about a thousand times harder for ME to take?" The elder leaned back in his chair. "You're so young, Shikamaru. You don't look like an adult but you certainly have an adult's responsibilities._

"_Son," he continued after a pause, "I think we both know that you could easily find out what you want to know now that you're on the track. This is just another choice you'll have to make – whether you really trust our Hokages or not, and I'm not just talking about managing all the tedious day-to-day stuff, but when it's life and death." The quiet that followed seemed to intensify the moment. "Maybe," the man continued hypothetically, "they've decided to keep what's so important about Naruto a secret just to piss you off or out of some, I don't know, weird, personal whim. Or maybe," he paused for effect, even going so far as to level a glance, "maybe they had very good reasons that you're just not understanding right now. Maybe it should be enough that that crazy yellow-haired kid is one of us."_

_Shikamaru frowned and shook his head, already starting to stew._

"_It's not what you think," offered Shikaku, having obviously taken notice. "This isn't your basic parental life-lesson guilt trip. Although this IS a test there's no right or wrong answer. I made my choice which is why I'm not going to tell you and I'm sorry if you're upset about that. But now you have to decide for yourself what's best for you, your friends, your teammates and your village. If I was on your team," the wily jonin concluded with a grimace of a smile, "I'd expect nothing less."_

_The younger ninja grunted then let the matter drop. Clearly there was no point in pursuing it. But by the time their game of shogi had ended (with Shikamaru the victor), the newly-promoted chunin was absolutely certain of two things: one, that being an 'adult' was overrated (of course, that he'd long suspected). And two: he would know what the hell makes one Naruto Uzumaki so freaking special by the end of the day._

_As the day had worn on however with him organizing things with Chouji, Kiba and Sakura, studying the latest intelligence reports on the Mist Village, consulting the very few ANBU with field experience in the region and generally making his preparations, discovering the blond genin's secrets kind of got pushed back until ultimately it was too late._

_Shikamaru told himself it wasn't because he was going to trust anyone's judgment but his own, Hokage or not; that didn't make any sense to him at all. And it was certainly NOT that he was going to follow the old man's example. It wasn't._

* * *

"And it's still not," said Shikamaru under his breath as his eyes flickered up to look out over the choppy sea with Chouji, Kiba and Sakura close beside him.

* * *

**Haku**

The aged councilor led the boy down into the castle's lower levels – a world of irregular corridors of bright, white-plastered stone where thick, varnished wood lintels crowned plank and rail doors, then from there through a series of out-buildings used for storage, scullery, kitchen and the like. Upon seeing the master of the house, startled servants either fled from his path or dropped to their knees with foreheads pressed to the stone-tiled floor.

Haku smiled at them in awkward apology and was quite relieved, though puzzled, when his host at last strode out the back way, past a covered well-house and from there onto a path that led off through a series of lower and lower walled courtyards, all gated and guarded. Soon enough they arrived at the outer-most gate which was flanked on both sides by stout, steep-walled towers. Standards danced fitfully in the wind which occasionally gusted enough to raise ragged, desultory clangs from the bells that hung every so often around the clan compound.

The former Demon's Apprentice eyed these carefully, remembering very well how Lord Hirai's Dao magic could turn that music into watchdogs, executioners or Heaven and Earth knew what else. The old shinobi had had ninety years to perfect his arts and the boy marveled again at how fortunate he was to have survived raising his ire.

Haku remained puzzled as the Councilor continued his pace, without so much as a word, out the gate and onto the forest-bounded gravel road that lay beyond it.

When Lord Hirai had asked Haku to accompany him back in the precincts of his castle, a grueling hike was about the last thing the teenager expected and yet, as the elderly patriarch continued his pace down the road then off onto a trail through the woods that took them crisscrossing back and forth down increasingly rocky and treacherous slopes toward the sea, that's exactly what it turned into.

Halfway down, Haku paused to look up through the stands of trees to where their rugged and storm-lashed tops vanished against a backdrop of blue then down to where the forest dissolved into a narrow stretch of barren shoreline with its ramparts flooded and battered in turns by turbulent waves. Though barely an hour had passed since they'd left Hirai Castle the solitude of the landscape here was in itself nearly enough to convince that man had never set foot on this island.

_Where in the world is he taking me? _Haku couldn't help but ask himself and wonder what any of this had to do with saving Kirigakure. As powerful and learned as the old councilor was, it was hard to believe that even he knew of anything that could help. Then again it was even harder to believe that a man like this, very nearly a centenarian, would waste his time so frivolously.

After another hour of descent which had left the forests far behind, the silver-haired ninja-lord lead the way with admirable sure-footedness along the island's besieged shoreline then through a narrow split between craggy rock faces that towered up to compress the broad, bright sky down to a ragged-edged sliver of light high overhead. The ground shuddered from the force of crashing surf and the air was thick with fine spray and the scent of the sea.

For whatever reason, Haku found himself growing increasingly uneasy. His senses prickled. The sun's rays beaming down between the rocks blazed insufferably hot, the sounds of the sea roared and threatened, startling in their intensity while the air hung heavy and seemed to close in.

Though his guide continued on with a steady pace the teenager swallowed hard with trepidation, his eyes darting with paranoiac urgency back the way they'd came. Only then did the young ninja suspect that all this was not just a trick of the mind but an inexplicable property of this place that, had Lord Hirai not led him here, the former Demon's Apprentice certainly would have avoided.

The passageway swelled suddenly into a gallery of sorts between the rocks and here the thunderous sound of the crashing, unseen waves alone was enough to drive the boy close to panic that the whole place was in imminent danger of being claimed by the sea. All around, as dense as a forest, thick pillars of stone reached like fingers toward the blinding sky. Wiping sweat from his forehead, Haku raised his eyes toward the top of the columns then nearly recoiled at the sight of the scant, sun-obscured shapes that hung past the edges – shapes suggestive of blackened, skeletal limbs outstretched in a gesture of life's final surrender.

A surge of paralyzing, existential terror flooded through the young ninja until he looked again to find the shapes gone as if they had never been. Haku wavered, breathless and sick, thoughts hovering.

"I'm sure you can sense that this is no ordinary place and it isn't," echoed Hirai's stately, commanding tenor as if in a cathedral. The man straightened and studied his surroundings with a cautious sort of reverence. The councilor had been steadfastly silent for so long that the unexpected sound of his voice nearly made Haku jump. "You may think of it as a pivot point, a locus around which energies both natural and preternatural circle. This, what we call The Dwelling Place of Spirits is the reason why this island out of so many in the Land of Water was chosen to be the seat of the Hirai Clan.

"Generations ago," Hirai went on to explain in a manner at once boastful and confiding, "my grandmother sought, as so many have and still do, an answer to mortality. Foremost among the differences between her and lesser talents was that she actually found one. She was the first to master the mysteries of this island as she was the first to be Mizukage before there even was a Village Hidden in the Mist.

"Midori Hirai, our great clan matriarch, did battle with the 108 Demons that plagued the islands of Water Country and, in defeating them, was able to unite over a dozen contentious ninja clans, yours included, to found Kirigakure no Sato in part because her victory was theirs as well."

Haku blinked to clear his bleary eyes and tried his best to be attentive. Still, for all his efforts, the teenager couldn't help but sway slightly as the peculiar energies associated with this place tested him, pushing and pulling on the fringes of his consciousness. To be honest, Zabuza's student didn't quite follow what his guide meant but his thoughts were too fractured at the moment to allow him to compose a sensible question.

"The jutsu she employed is a secret passed down through generations, shared with the heads of Kirigakure's noble houses because its unique nature demands that it be used rarely and only to defend the welfare of the entire village. I suppose, since you are the head of your house, by default, that it really is your right as well.

"Of course, the obvious question," continued the councilor with a clever, almost self-deprecating grin. "If I know a technique so powerful then why haven't I used it by now? No small part of it has to do with my advanced age. To be blunt, Haku," Hirai began then turned the full force of his autocrat's gaze on the boy many decades his junior, "this jutsu is taxing on the chakra, mind and body in ways my aged ones are no longer able to bear. And then too there is a certain, let's just say, spiritual component that I have alienated over the course of my long and eventful life and so, in this case, your youth and unique lineage makes you the most likely candidate.

"I should point out," the ninja lord added, his voice rolling off the rock walls of the chamber where they stood, "that this jutsu has only ever been carried out twice successfully."

Just from his tone, Haku didn't have to ask the price of failure. Gathering himself, the girlish shinobi managed, though with some hesitation: "This jutsu…it's why you brought me here?"

"Haku Aramata," intoned Hirai, gesturing around him grandly, "you are standing at the sepulcher of kings and queens. Generations of ninja elite from all the clans of Water Country have traveled here especially to die in this place, willingly, eagerly even so that they could again be summoned to assist their village when called upon. The Candlelight Gate Jutsu, which I intend to teach you, creates a crossroads of sorts between states of being. Executed successfully, all the combined powers of their chakra, vast knowledge and experience will be yours to draw upon; their life energies, memories, their very essences will merge with yours."

Haku gaped. Though the old man's tale tested credulity, Zabuza's student knew he would never fabricate something like this, not when there was so much at stake.

The teenager had certainly heard his fair share of stories over the years, apocryphal and otherwise, about the kinds of secret jutsu horded by the great clans but never thought he'd be privy to one. Of course, any technique that would allow him even a slim chance against the 108 Demons had to be far beyond anything in his experience.

He turned away lost in thought for a moment and stared dazedly. For him, this whole adventure had started weeks ago with the simple idea of trying to save Kirigakure. Now he was faced with a basic question: how much did he still mean it? To what lengths was he really willing to go and what was he willing to risk? The answer ended with an acceptant smile…and then, when he turned back, something else too.

"What?" asked Lord Hirai brusquely to the calculating look on the young ninja's face.

"Should I succeed," advanced Haku in his measured contralto, "learn your jutsu, defeat Krishenay Rahaman and all the monsters inside him then there is something I wish from you in return."

The old man goggled, momentarily dumbfounded then gave forth with an easy laugh. "Well," he began curiously, "this is certainly a change. I'd assumed that you were 'above' such coarse and worldly considerations as _quid pro quo_."

"And you have to swear," said Haku who paused and looked around the chamber meaningfully, "by all your ancestors that you'll grant it."

The man's steely eyes rose, surprised but still tolerant. "My goodness, it sounds like you have your heart set." The two exchanged a quick glance before the stately old man realized aloud: "Oh I see. You're serious about that last part. Very well then," he began, falling into the role of indulgent grandfather, then straightened before he declared in a formal tone: "I, Lord Kissohamaru Hirai, Patriarch of the Hirai Clan and Councilor of Kirigakure so swear. Now, whatever could it be that has you so determined?"

"A pardon," Haku stated immediately, "an exoneration of all my past wrongdoings in the eyes of Kirigakure and Water Country - full, incontrovertible and uncontestable."

Hirai blinked. "But…I offered you that before and much more."

"Yes, but this is on my terms now," said Haku with a resurgent smile. "I'm tired of going through life hiding under an alias. I don't want to be your Mizukage or even a daimyo but I do want my name." The Demon's Apprentice, acclimated at last to this strange sanctum, gave his unlikely benefactor a conciliatory glance. "When it comes to most things, I don't think we could ever understand each other but I know you can understand that. The Aramata name is mine," he insisted flatly, simply, "and I want it back."

* * *

**Mei**

_The Mizukage is dead,_ thought Mei as she stared out her porthole window high up in the tower of one of the ministry buildings she'd appropriated as a command center. Past her own shadowy reflection in the sagging glass the Village Hidden in the Mist sprawled under her gaze. Out in its gloom-shrouded streets, fires tore the darkness while smoke, shouts and the clash of metal and breaking glass filled the air.

_It was only a matter of time before they found out,_ the woman mused._ Actually they're taking it rather well…all things considered._

So far the riots had been relatively manageable perhaps because of all the years these citizens had been deathly afraid of their ninja. _But with so many catastrophes besetting us and now the Fourth Mizukage dead I suppose we deserve a vote of 'no confidence'. Maybe it's just that these poor people don't believe they have anything to lose anymore…and maybe they don't._

For her part, the feeble public statement she, as the highest ranking jonin, had been forced to issue after the fact had been pretty poor medicine. What the citizens of the Mist Village faced could not be made any easier to bear with vague assurances. Words alone were not going to cut it.

_They probably know about Rahaman too, _she considered. _Maybe not that he's the vessel for the 108 Demons but surely it couldn't have escaped people's notice that he's running around killing people en masse and that we're more-or-less powerless to stop him._

The latest report on them was that they'd appeared in one of the branch hospitals and left no one alive – drained every last soul of their chakra. Mei had dispatched a team to try and contain the beasts within a seven-star seal but to no avail. They'd killed all seven jonin with barely a flicker of effort.

"Let it out, Kirigakure," Mei sang soothingly to the window, pressing her hand to the glass, "let it out. Things are only going to get worse."

At her feet lay the latest intelligence report informing the kunoichi that the Land of Water had declared a state of emergency. An armada made up of all the major daimyos' combined forces had set sail and were on their way to Kirigakure even now to enforce the quarantine. In addition to everything else, the Mist Village was about to find itself under siege.

Gripped by helplessness, the woman hung her head. Kirigakure was dying. And, for all her vast, blood-gifted powers and dreams of one day being Mizukage, there seemed little she or anyone could do to stop it.

* * *

**Yashako**

"So how long you figure you can keep me here?" the kunoichi growled from where she crouched on the floor, her dark face savage.

Being blind and disfigured, her crippled sensei's expressions were hard to read. "Until it's over."

Yashako squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn't ever recall a moment in her life when she'd been involuntarily _confined_ and was discovering that it didn't suit her. The swordswoman's hunting gaze swept again across the boundaries of her prison – a gilded cage if there ever was one. Glossy, red columns soared from a wooden floor polished to a mirror shine. High above, elaborately carved and colorfully rendered dragons and lions guarded capitals and lacquered beams. Few had ever been so privileged as to view the Coral Pavilion even from the outside let alone from within. It came and went like a mirage, a shared hallucination and the stuff of urban legends, a haunted place right in the middle of Kirigakure that not even the cleverest ninja had been able to penetrate without the owner's assent.

She could see it – the shabbier districts of the Mist Village crouching just on the other side of the bright little lake that compassed them. There wasn't even a wall in between, only a short, wooden railing dense with geometric patterns. In theory, the kunoichi could just vault over it, cross the waters and be gone before the old man could even blink.

_That's IF this was any kind of normal place,_ considered Yashako with a grimace of pent-up frustration.

Deep down she knew it was only a fabrication of sensei's genjutsu and maybe even more than that. Bottom line: the rules of this world were different.

"I'm a shinobi," she argued with what was, for her, truly remarkable calm. "I'm supposed to be defending my village, not hiding like a scared kitten."

"There's no point. The Mist Village's sins have all come back to roost and maybe it's high time. Maybe the countless evils done in the name of preserving itself have gone unanswered for too long and this is the universe's way of making things right. Whatever the case, the Mist Village can possibly survive; I've seen it myself in the energies that flow from the finite past through the singularity of the present moment into the branching rivers of all possible futures. It will die one way or another: from a disease it gave itself, being eaten up by a monster it created or consumed in a fire it helped light. But look at it this way," he quipped suddenly, changing tack with a lurid smile, "you and I will be left to repopulate the village. What more meaningful service could you offer Kirigakure than that?"

For maybe the first time in her life, Yashako was mortified to the point of being speechless. "Sensei," she admonished at last when she was able, adding to that a withering scowl. "Flag on the play."

'The Manatee' shrugged affably in concession. "Sorry. I'd always thought you were impossible to offend."

"Look!" barked the woman who gestured abruptly, "do you really think this stupid genjutsu of yours will keep out the whole fucking world? Kirigakure is under attack! Doesn't that MEAN anything to you?"

The old ninja's hulking, already-sagging posture slumped even more as he let silence fall rather than reply to his former student's outburst right away. "It used to. It probably still would if I believed the place worthy of the devotion I once had. As for your first question - you must know after all this time, Yashako, that what I've created here is more than mere illusion," he confirmed at last. "Although, I can't blame you for the assumption. Back when I was on Kirigakure's active roster, genjutsu was indeed my strength. After my little 'disagreement' with Kissame that left me a beat-up, legless cripple, defeated and humiliated I tried to disappear within myself. I thought that the natural thing to do but there I discovered new applications for my talents and a greater depth to my awareness." With a calm, kind and yet ghastly smile, 'The Manatee' looked right at Yashako with his sightless eyes. "What I see, Yashako my student, is that the Mist Village cannot be saved…by me, you or anyone. For that matter I see no reason to try. But I can, and will, save _you._"

The woman's face blanked at the treasonous pronouncement and for a moment she didn't know what to say or even think. The kunoichi had always suspected that the trauma of what the Scourge of the Hidden Mist had done to her former teacher had changed him inside as dramatically as it had on the outside but this was far worse than she'd feared.

Her sharpened teeth grated. Personal considerations aside, even if she killed the old man, which would be regrettable considering that he was her sensei and all, there was no telling what would happen. The Coral Pavilion, the whole place a fabricated reality, a figment of her sensei's imagination made real, might just wink out of existence, taking her with it!

_There has to be a way,_ thought Yashako as she strove to keep her impulsive nature reigned in.

Even while the ninja tried to sort out some scenario by which she could escape though, the woman couldn't help but feel a little touched by the unexpected depth of her sensei's concern for her, however inappropriate.

* * *

**Haku**

Sitting cross-legged in The Dwelling Place of Spirits, Haku repeated the hand signs and intonations Lord Hirai had taught him. The elderly shinobi had been quite surprised and impressed at how quickly he'd picked them up before realizing, apparently, that he shouldn't have been. Not everyone had had a master as exacting as Zabuza Momochi…not to mention the innate ability to execute seals one-handed.

The real problem now laid not his ability to memorize or perform but to clear his mind. The Candlelight Gate Jutsu required a consciousness free of clutter and preoccupation in order to prepare the mind and body to accept coexistence with other worlds and the soul with other souls. For the time being, messy thoughts and feelings intruded: guilt that Mari must be really worried about him by now and that she'll be absolutely FURIOUS if or when he ever saw her again; concern knowing that Chuuya and Inari were still stranded in the Leaf Village and who knew what kind of trouble they might be getting into; more concern that Naruto probably wasn't going heed his warning; deep trepidation that it was up to him to stop the 108 Demons and outright fear that if he didn't the whole city full of people were going to die. Finally: a sense of lingering hopelessness that even if he were successful there was still a plague, mass-poisoning or whatever it was that Lady Inoue had done to simulate the effects of the Tsujita clan's kekkei-genkai under way there.

It was too much!

One by one, though, the distractions fell away as they always had before and the space within his calming mind opened into a vast and empty world. Discipline like this he owed to his late sensei whose harsh tutelage he'd never questioned. A state of balance took hold where Haku's consciousness hovered, aware of his surroundings but detached from them as if viewing them from a great distance. His heartbeat slowed, his breath stilled though his mouth continued to move, forming sounds even as his fingers streamed through the seals of the Hirai clan's secret jutsu.

The scene shifted, not gradually as Haku had expected but with a lurch that was felt rather than seen. The rock walls around him, the streaming sunlight, the mist hanging in the air all at once seemed false, insubstantial – a world rendered on a backdrop of gauze. Only then did he really feel the truth in what Lord Hirai had told him, that he sat at the sepulcher of kings and queens, a place where spirits dwelled. And he was no longer alone. Presences, still unseen, compassed him, crowded him, pressing in and he could feel the assault of their not-quite-living chakras.

By then it was too late to realize that his breath had stopped and so too had his heart. There was no time for a panicked thought, a moment of doubt, or to wonder if Lord Hirai had deceived him, and maybe that was for the best.

Unseen by any living soul, the teenager's grey eyes rolled heavenward as his body crumpled slowly, coming to rest against the pitiless stone.

* * *

**Lord Hirai**

The ink-brush moved with slow, practiced effortlessness across the page, leaving in its wake breathtaking, incomprehensible wisdom. Embodied in those glossy, ebon strokes was the same beauty and secrets anchorites sought to discover in the whispering wind, the shapes of the clouds or the patterns of light caught upon ocean waves – an elusive knowledge visible only to a few but so manifest that even the uninitiated could tell at once that therein lay something inexpressible.

Lord Hirai paused to rest and flex his stiffening fingers. Harsh was the discipline that required a lifetime to master just in time for old age to rob it from you no matter what efforts you made or steps you took to delay it.

The old man took the moment to let his eyes roam around his office – a repository of a past few were left alive to remember. There were shelves and cases full of awards won back in the days when sports and academic competitions were important to him; curios from a time when travel was; weapons and trophies taken in battle from a time when war was; letters and tokens of affection from a time when love was; and then countless photos of all his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren who still were.

He hadn't done well by them, the thought haunted him. If only he'd devoted more time into the development of his heirs then maybe at least one of them would be ready now to take the reins from his aging hands. Of course, if he'd been any less vigilant, Lord Hirai pondered, Kirigakure would have fallen a dozen times by now. That had been his sacrifice to the Village as well as theirs.

Kissohamaru's thoughts fell to Haku and the last time he'd used that jutsu and it didn't seem like that long a time ago. A hurried council of jonin had only just determined what it was the Third Mizukage intended to do with the armies he'd built up – that he would take Kirigakure to war against the entire world starting with Fire Country and the Hidden Leaf Village. A much younger Kissohamaru Hirai had harnessed the powers of the supernatural through The Candlelight Gate Jutsu left to him by his grandmother, the First Mizukage, then went to confront Madara Uchiha who, to his astonishment, acknowledged surrender and left without a fight.

It had all seemed so plausible at the time – that the great patriarch of the Uchiha clan would simply go once he'd realized that he was outmatched. And yet in the years that followed, as the young Hirai had become Lord Hirai and then Councilor Hirai, with all the sacrifices he'd ended up making to Madara and his infernal freak-show collection of misanthropic and traitorous shinobi all for the sake of peace and stability in Kirigakure, it was hard not to doubt that even then, blessed with _godlike_ power, he'd still been nothing more than a plaything before the much more subtle and insidious powers of the Sharingan.

The sound of raised voices, one of them raspy and shrill, rang suddenly outside the old shinobi's chamber muffled by its door of thick, ancient oak. Lord Hirai raised a grey eyebrow then went back to his chirography as the voices grew louder still until they were joined by an outbreak of fisticuffs. The brawl escalated. Shouts and grunts rose up punctuated by the crashes and cracks of furniture breaking, of bodies being thrown against paneled wood and plaster walls.

The racket crested sharply as the door creaked open and a slightly battered Naruto Uzumaki stepped inside, giving a short glimpse of the tumult raging in the antechamber beyond where Hirai clan guards battled a vast army of yellow-haired shadow clones. Relative silence fell as the boy swung the door behind him shut and marched up to Lord Hirai's desk.

"May I help you, Uzumaki-sama?" said the old man with perfect calm as he continued, focusing on his careful brushstrokes.

The young leaf-ninja set both palms on the desk, leaned forward and glared; his whisker-marked face full of purpose. "What did you do to Haku?"

"Such a scurrilous accusation," the councilor began in mock indignation, "I didn't do anything to your little friend."

"Well where is he then?"

"Assuming he survives the jutsu I just taught him, I expect he'll be on his way back to Kirigakure to fight the 108 Demons. It's too bad though." Hirai shook his head with grave regret. "The best anyone can hope for is that the boy delays them awhile. It's almost impossible he'll survive."

"WHAT?" squawked Naruto, recoiling with wide-eyed alarm and disbelief.

The ninja-lord put his brush aside, capped the inkwell and looked down at his work critically before giving it a final blow to dry the ink and sliding it gently to the side. "I'm afraid so," he offered then gestured at his manuscript, "but it's all right here. See for yourself."

With a quizzical expression in his blue eyes, Naruto came around the desk and looked down at it – a snowflake-like design surrounded with cryptic characters. "So what's this supposed to be?"

"You'll have to look closer than that," Hirai pointed out.

The boy bent and as he did the paper came to life, flying up angrily into Naruto's shocked face and wrapping around it like a second skin. Conflicting chakra energies crackled and stormed. The genin stumbled back, crashed into the paneled wall and then staggered around the room. Lord Hirai watched coolly as the young ninja lurched one last time and fell to the floor, struggling with the anguished desperation of a fish snatched from the water before finally going limp.

The councilor picked up a tiny bell that sat on his desk and rang thrice at which a pair of grey-dressed manciples entered, their expressions, by necessity of their professions, completely blank.

"Take this to the tower and prepare a sarcophagus," he instructed. "I'll be along shortly to seal it."

The servants took the blond ninja under each arm and marched off with him without so much as a word, leaving their master alone once more.

_A fine thing,_ Hirai considered sadly. _Here I am, the great ninja lord, patriarch of a noble and powerful clan, a counselor in Kirigakure no Sato and yet reduced to this – a pimp and a broker for jinchuuriki. First the three-tails then the six and now the nine._

The weight of his memories carried him back through the decades – all reduced to bits and pieces, images faint or sharp. There'd been a young man, he recalled, with pale green hair and lavender eyes, and another with skin as white as alabaster and black hair…or had it been brown?

_And I actually believed that I'd defeated Madara Uchiha. _He sighed and, in retrospect, couldn't help but laugh at himself. _I went meaning to kill him but chose to let him live…or so I'd always thought._ Hirai leaned back in his chair and frowned. _I see now that it's much more likely that I simply succumbed to the old bastard's manipulation. Ah, I hate to think what that man intends to do with all the power he's amassing, collecting so many of the tailed beasts._

That was just one of the many thoughts that plagued his dreams and more than a few of his waking hours.

_Still, if Haku can't destroy the 108 demons,_ Lord Hirai considered grimly, _perhaps the Akatsuki will._


	28. House of Candlelight Part 2

_Hi, and sorry it's been so long. Hope you like..._

* * *

**Inoue**

With the ink only barely dry on the sheaves of fresh decrypts clutched tightly in his calloused hand Pradesh rapped crisply on the lacquered wood of his master's stateroom door then entered at once, knowing how anxiously she awaited his report.

Within, Lady Chinami Inoue, councilor of Kirigakure sat with eyes closed, enshrouded in a sea-blue coat of deepest blue embroidered with dense arabesques as she reclined in a chair with her slipper-covered feet resting atop her desk. "So, how are we doing?" she inquired mildly in the essence of restraint. Though her words were softly-spoken they cut the stillness of the dimly lit room.

The swarthy jonin's lips pressed into a tight seam. So much was happening all at once it was hard to know just where to begin. And though he'd been trained to keep his emotions subdued lest they cloud the judgment or slow the reflexes it was more than a little difficult to maintain anything like complete detachment. "The Mizukage's dead," he made himself announce. That bit of news seemed like a reasonable place to start. "Our agent's slow-acting toxin finally took him down. In the end it was just like you said – between his paranoia and the psychoactive effects of the poison he was too scared to even try to get help." The mist-shinobi proceeded to the next bulletin, stating with a measured cadence in his growling baritone: "Tsujita and his co-conspirators were spotted and then engaged by an ANBU assassination squad in what turned out to be a messy and public fight that destroyed much of the Piazza del Carne' and even some of the surrounding blocks.

"The casualty rate in Kirigakure is about thirty-five hundred and climbing, approximating estimates. Of course, everyone _thinks_ that it's one of the Tsujita's plagues that's causing it AND that killed Lord Oku. The whole place is in chaos."

Inoue offered a single, sharp nod. "A difficult and painful birth," the silver-haired woman allowed. "Go on."

"The council of Daimyo are sending troops to enforce the quarantine. They're all worried about the 'plague' getting loose and are willing to do whatever's necessary to make sure it doesn't."

"Of course," muttered the kunoichi with a sad sort of grin, her tone acknowledging her chief of security's inflections - a nuanced reminder of the true source of the Mist Village's affliction.

"As of right now," continued Pradesh, the battle-scarred man's eyes, one white and one black, scanning the report, "we have two full mist-shinobi regiments assembled from forces stationed outside Kirigakure ready to secure Wave Country. They should make port just after sundown.

"Under the circumstances, the Council of Daimyo, led by your allies, of course, have appointed _you_ interim Mizukage until the emergency is concluded." His expression rose, acknowledging the development. However his master's plan unfolded in the end, _this_ was a historical moment. "Congratulations, Lady Inoue."

"Thank you, Pradesh." The old woman's eyes opened as if from a refreshing nap but there was no hint of celebration in them. The clan matriarch withdrew her feet from the top of her desk then set them carefully on the floor. Sitting up, she offered more cheerily: "So far, so good. Better than expected, I think." The elder kunoichi pressed her hands together in something like a jutsu seal then pressed her forefingers against her thin lips. "Any word of my 'dear colleague', Kissohamaru?"

Pradesh shook his head. "There's been no sign of him since the outbreak. It's almost sure he's left the city but apparently he's still in some sort of contact with the provisional administration. Mei Terumi's taken charge, doing what she can to follow both your orders and his."

Inoue flashed a mercurial smile. "Ha!" she piped with genuine delight. "I knew that girl had ambition despite her secret. And I suppose I should have figured that the old bastard wouldn't let himself get caught inside Kirigakure with all-hell breaking loose." Her cloudy-sky eyes flickered. "My, it would be nice, convenient to say the least, if he went home to hole-up. Speaking of which -?"

The ninja nodded and followed up per the new Mizukage's queue. "The Fire-tongues have already destroyed Lord Nikai's Enclave," Pradesh informed her, taking a moment to reconfirm with the decrypt. "Hirai Castle is next. By tomorrow morning it'll be nothing but a smoking memory."

Breath seeped from the old woman. "The end of an era," she noted with a passing, professorial air. "Still: a necessary sacrifice. The Mist Village can hardly move forward with Lord Hirai and his clan like an anchor around our necks." The woman mulled a thought over for a moment. "I'll send him a messenger osprey just in case – a nice communique inquiring after his health, indicating my shock and surprise at all that's happened and asking him for guidance. I suppose that would only be proper were the circumstances what they seemed."

The mist-ninja's dark, battle-scarred and bristled face pinched slightly as he thought to add back some of the details he'd glossed over. "I don't know what you'll make of this, my lady, but it sure seems strange – these intelligence reports we just got say that Lord Tsujita was confirmed killed but the three with him all got away: an unidentified bodyguard, a jinchuuriki who took on pretty-much every ninja in the place and," his lips wriggled with skepticism, "I don't know how else to say this but: Haku."

"Haku?" Lady Inoue startled mildly. "You mean pale little _Haku_ Haku? Zabuza's disciple, the ice-user?" Her grey brows knitted. "That can't be right. The ANBU killed him over a year ago. It was confirmed. It's so unlike our ninja-hunters to make a mistake like that." Inoue thought for a moment then gave an acceptant shrug. "Hmm, I guess it makes sense though that if that boy was still alive that he might have found his way to The Enclave and the company of his fellow blood-gifted brethren.

"I can't say I have a clue about the jinchuuriki. Does that report say anything more about him?"

Pradesh shook his head.

The woman reclined once more. "I wonder if he was host to the turtle or the slug," she remarked. "I always thought it was so strange. We committed so many resources to sealing those two of the tailed-beasts, all in the name of keeping up with the Hidden Cloud Village, only to have them vanish like farts in the wind one after the other." Inoue shook her head dismissively. "Ah, well, as wrinkles in plans go, those are all pretty minor."

"Oh, this too," Pradesh added, wanting to impart one last point before the woman made any final conclusions. "The late Lord Oku's enforcer, Krishenay Rahaman's, apparently lost his mind. Ever since his master, the Mizukage died he's been on a killing spree, ninja and civilians alike, and no one in Kirigakure's been able to stop him."

Inoue looked up. "That one was always a puzzle. I never did know where the Fourth dug him up but I figured it was ok as long as his reassuring presence kept Oku this side of sanity."

"Do you think he'll be a problem?"

"Not for us," the old kunoichi answered with a shake of her head. "No," she considered, "someone like Rahaman is like a fire, they all are. They all burn out eventually on their own no matter how hot they burn or how brightly they blaze. And then too, Mei Terumi is quite capable of dealing with anyone who needs to be dealt with, even a monster like him." The new Mizukage hummed to herself as she mused. "She has the kekkei-genkai, you know, a rare orchid indeed with not just one but two cross-elemental masteries – lava and mist; although she and her clan have gone to some lengths to keep it quiet for obvious reasons. And even if this Rahaman character does prove to be a nuisance, we can always sic the ship's Nephilim Guard on him." Inoue looked past her stateroom walls of wood-paneled steel toward the chessboard figures who manned their sentry posts in silent vigil around the Sophae's decks, saying with a tremor in her voice: "They've all given up so much to gain the power they have. I doubt truly that there is any force in existence that can stand before them."

* * *

**Tsunade**

The Fifth Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves sat in her customary booth at Inakaya, still as a statue, staring down with her chin braced between thumb and forefinger. At her right and left elbows sat stacks of untouched and unread paperwork, before her - a tray of equally ignored food and a rapidly-cooling carafe of rice wine.

Shizune, stationed across from her mistress, sat stiffly and stared with her shoulders squared. Not even the report at the Hokage's fingers, raising alarm over a perplexing spike in the number of villagers falling sick from sudden but random illnesses, had stirred her interest. For maybe the first time in her life the dark-haired young medical ninja wished Tsunade would just have a drink.

"Worried about Naruto?" she ventured hesitantly to break the stifling silence.

Moments crept by. Shizune had started to wonder if she'd missed her mark, her master simply hadn't heard or was, perhaps, ignoring her until: "He's really something, that kid," muttered Tsunade. "I'll bet he didn't even think twice about going."

"Are you mad at him?" the adjutant followed.

The Hokage shook her head just slightly. "I was," she clarified then rested both arms flat on the table. "But you know, no one was ever allowed to tell Naruto about the Nine-Tailed Fox and, as far as I know, no one ever did. No one ever explained to him what a complete disaster it would be if he got killed…or worse - captured by a rival village." She paused then added wistfully, "And I know he thought he was doing a good thing."

Shizune forced a smile and offered in her best, hopeful-sounding voice: "Maybe Shikamaru will bring him back. He's awfully smart," she piped maybe a little too encouragingly. "If anyone can figure out a way, he can."

Her master's expression softened, acknowledging her confidant's effort. "Thank you, Shizune," Tsunade offered in earnest. "I haven't been Hokage long but…long enough to have lost my ability to be so optimistic. No, as much as I'd like not to, all I can think about is how the Mist Village will harness the power of the Kyuubi no Yoko and use it against us." The sandy-haired woman snorted with fatalistic humor and gave her student a confiding look. "Danzo'll have shit-fit. As much as he would _love_ to be proved right and lord it over us how much smarter and wiser he is than us naïve little children – that we should've kept Naruto under lock and key and raised him as-as," she stuttered, "as some kind of glorified attack-dog or something. As much as that man would love to gloat…he'll have a shit-fit. And what could I say to him: 'Why yes, Councilor, I did in fact let probably our most powerful weapon walk out of here and into the hands of Kirigakure.'" At last Tsunade took a drink, downing a shot in one effortless gulp, then wiped her lips with the back of her arm as she poured another. "Stupid kid."

Shizune caught the note of sadness in the ninja lord's voice and the true touchstone of her concern that remained, even in the shadow of all she'd said, a personal matter much more so than a strategic one. The girl blinked as she smiled with sad sympathy.

"A year ago Haku was his enemy who'd tried to kill him," said Tsunade. "Now they're the best of friends and Naruto' s running off to help him and to try to save a Village that would destroy us in a _heartbeat_ given the chance." The woman looked up with a flash of intensity in her amber eyes, the jewel resting between them an unblinking third. "Doesn't that seem _hopelessly_ stupid to you?"

Shizune shrugged, unsure if her lady really wanted an answer.

Thankfully, Tsunade herself spared her from guessing. "That's what I thought…and yet there is a part of me I thought I'd outgrown that _understands_ it, especially knowing Naruto like I do." The Hokage took another drink, this one long and slow. "He's just a _kid_," she began again bleakly. "Heaven and Earth, I hate to think what the Mist Village will do to him."

* * *

**Mei**

The detailed map of Kirigakure that covered the planning table under the statuesque kunoichi's luminous emerald gaze might almost convince that all was well. The riots had quieted. The granaries, storehouses, cisterns and armories were all secure and there'd been no further attacks. But as the saying went, 'the map is not the territory'.

People were still dying all over the city, dying in droves and an armada was coming soon to enforce a panicked Water Country's quarantine. Heaven and Earth knew what lengths they'd go to toward that end.

In the wake of Lord Oku's death, Water Country's daimyo had appointed the _junior_ councilor, Lady Chinami Inoue as the provisional Mizukage; in itself a puzzling choice considering Lord Hirai's standing and seniority. At the news, two thoughts warred in Mei's head: that there was much going on behind the scenes that she was ignorant of; and that they should have chosen _her_ instead. That last one was quickly chased away. The woman had often dreamed about what she would do if she were Mizukage: the changes she'd institute, the policies she'd pursue, but this was hardly the time to consider lofty personal aspirations. Given the stigma Kirigakure still held against those who held the kekkei-genkai, not to mention her clan's general reclusiveness and lack of connections it was probably better to not even think about such things.

If she could help her village see one more dawn it would be enough.

"Miss Terumi?"

The woman looked up into Captain Ao and Aya Sakamoto's serious faces, more solemn now by far even than when they'd reported their combined inability to locate the fugitive Haku – the unlikely lynchpin to who all Kirigakure's troubles seemed bound. She steeled herself for more bad news. "Yes, what is it?"

Ao, uncharacteristically, seemed reluctant to say at first before he reported: "It's Rahaman. He's moving."

"What?" The kunoichi grimaced and straightened. "Where?"

The one-eyed jonin reached toward the map and slid the blood-red marker from a rectangle depicting one of Kirigakure's hastily-assembled branch clinics, the scene of the 108 Demon's latest depredation, out into the street.

Mei frowned. Her customary stoicism, veiled in the form of a playful, almost flirty casualness, had worn thin. "Any idea where he's going?" But her eyes were just as keen as anyone's' to spot the most likely destination. She stared for a moment then went slack. "The main hospital."

"Your orders, ma'am?" asked Ao, just like she knew he would.

The simple question throbbed in her head. Mei nodded then rose. "Start clearing the building and evacuate everybody between it and them." She turned then and headed for the back room where many of her personal effects were stored for the duration of the emergency, shucking her armored jacket and fatigues casually and carelessly as she went.

Ao and Aya stared after the woman in puzzlement as she disrobed, revealing at last the smooth, sculpted alabaster shoulders of an angel veiled only by her cascade of lush, auburn hair as she disappeared through the doorway.

"So…what are you going to do?" Ao called out to her.

"Face them," the unseen jonin's melodious voice answered back amidst the sounds of her rummaging.

Aya gasped at the idea. "But…Miss Terumi!" chirped the younger kunoichi. "You can't! You can't possibly be thinking about fighting the 108 Demons!"

Mei returned through the doorway adorned in a sleek, long-sleeved sapphire dress, bare at the shoulders and much more form fitting than her uniform had been. With a simple change of clothes, the woman had gone from striking…to _stunning_, a vision of incomparable beauty. "I'm going to. I have to at least try to slow them down," she stated plainly, headed for the door but explained with a sultry smile in answer to her two subordinates' expressions, "and if I'm going to be in the fight of my life I figure I should go wearing something I like.

"Ao," said Mei without looking back, all playfulness gone from her tone, "if I don't come back, you're in charge."

* * *

**Kiba**

In the dimness of his steerage-class dormitory, Kiba Inuzuka popped wide awake. He found himself hot, cramped, stiff and uncomfortable though none of that was unexpected. The bunk on which he rested was nothing more than a plywood shelf barely wider than the span of his thirteen-year old shoulders; the thin pad atop it only seemed to make it even harder. All around him, stacked up like so much firewood, his fellow passengers slept in various states of tortured and sometimes inebriated unconsciousness expressed in the form of groans, rattling snores, tossings, turnings, incoherent mutterings and every sort of noxious emission the stink of which thickened the air.

_But that's not why I'm awake, _the ninja realized with concern, his tongue teasing the sharp, white point of an incisor. _So why am I?_

Dawn light slanted through the vessel's narrow portholes, yellow circles moving slowly across the opposite wall.

Kiba's hunting, wolfish eyes widened as he rose. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed his traveling pack and hopped down. Akamaru, alerted by his master's silent but still unmistakable footfalls, appeared from the recesses beneath the lowest berth and padded after him. Quickly and quietly the two found Sakura, Chouji and Shikamaru's sleeping shelves, roused them then headed up the steel stairway into the morning air.

"What is it?" whispered Shikamaru who yawned and rubbed his eyes as they emerged on deck to which Kiba answered: "We're turning around."

"What? Why?" Shikamaru protested briefly then, when Kiba jumped up to the roof of the bridge-house, jumped after him.

Falling alongside the genin with his back to the wind, the view off the starboard side answered the question: ahead in the distance, silhouetted in stark black against the glow of the rising sun – a line of warships.

"Shit," grumbled Shikamaru, all drowsiness gone as he drew from his pouches a pair of field glasses. "It's Water Country's Navy and they're shutting down the sea-lane. A blockade?" he asked himself in a puzzled tone. "Why would they blockade their own ninja village?"

Kiba shrugged, the expression on his fang-tattooed face sour and serious. "Don't know. But we're not getting through that way," the young ninja growled then leaped back down to where Sakura and Chouji awaited. Shikamaru quickly joined them, informing them on what he'd seen as Kiba stalked about, pacing back and forth like a caged animal, before the genin marched to the railing and stared hard across the waves at a promontory waiting some miles distant along the cloud and haze-shrouded horizon. His wild eyes narrowed as they focused.

"Come on!" he snapped toward the others and pointed towards shore as Akamaru barked then jumped to his customary perch atop Kiba's brown-haired head, "that island's not THAT far. We can make it on foot _easy_."

With that, the boy hopped up to the top rail and sprang out high over the water. Landing in a crouch, the undulant blue bowing under the force of his chakra, Kiba broke immediately into a run – speeding away like an antelope across a prairie of rolling, white-capped waves.

Thus abandoned, their mouths hanging wide open in surprise, the remaining three stared after their fellow leaf-ninja for a moment, exchanged alarmed looks then hurriedly jumped the railing and scrambled after him.

* * *

**Haku**

* * *

**On the day I die,**

**when I'm being carried toward the grave,**

**don't weep.**

**Don't say, He's gone! He's gone.**

**Death has nothing to do with going away.**

**The sun sets and the moon sets,**

**but they're not gone.**

**Death is a coming together.**

**The tomb looks like a prison,**

**but it is really release into union.**

**The human seed goes down in the ground**

**like a bucket into the well where Joseph is.**

**It grows and comes up full**

**of some unimagined beauty.**

**Your mouth closes here**

**and immediately opens**

**with a shout of joy there.**

_The Day I Die - Jelaluddin Rumi_

* * *

A flash of blinding white. Then there he was again - a leaf racing along on a river of light and shadow.

Nothing to fear, not really.

He'd been here before.

Death was neither the end nor as irrevocable as he'd always believed. Dozens of voices told him so though their inflections were not necessarily reassuring.

First moments like birth, crashing his senses, only this time with _scores_ of other peoples' thoughts, other shinobis' thoughts, feelings and reactions all equal to and indistinguishable from his own rampaging through his mind. Through him, a mob of desperate souls clamored reflexively for another taste of life, to run again free in the empire of the senses; Haku's own energies, paltry, scant and confused, were sent to flight, crowded out, buried and gone forever under an avalanche of clashing chakras and more formidable wills but, emerging from that chaos, came allies.

A grandmother named Yukiko and a great uncle named Bishamon were in here too and they were not so easily pushed aside, neither were they about to stand by while the last of their clan's scion fell. Together they were able to enforce a realm of relative calm around their kindred until the fledgling had regained his composure enough to stand. Though Haku and they regarded each other in that fathomless instant of recognition they shared with mutual horror (Haku for his gentle heart and they for their callous, warlike ones) there was admiration, obligation and even a begrudging sort of love. Though they had never known each other before they surely did now to the most intimate and personal extremes. In a moment more they knew all the others together with them just as well but, unlike all the rest, these three were family and that was a difference that could not be ignored.

Haku awoke then with a garbled cry that rattled off walls of the stone sanctum where Lord Hirai had left him, though the sound was swallowed here and there by the thunder of crashing waves. The young ninja found himself sitting up. His grey eyes swiveled slowly across the chamber. Every sight, sound, smell and sensation blossomed forth with a confusing cascade of sixty-six impressions, recollections and observations that filled his mind to painful overflowing.

The young ninja's jaw hinged open as his eyes pinched shut. Involuntarily, his trembling hands reached to his long-haired head as if to help keep together all its new contents and inhabitants. If not for the intervention of his relatives who'd buttressed his existence, he would surely have been overwhelmed, trampled under like a newborn before a stampede. Quietly he thanked them though he didn't need to. Their thoughts were his.

All at once Haku knew the names and faces of nearly every relative he'd ever had in an ancient lineage that reached back way before the dawn of the Hidden Villages. He knew too the lengths his ancestors had gone to to gain the powers of their kekkei-genkai – allowing themselves to comingle with the dragon spirits of the air and sea in often horrifying unions, yielding offspring that were sometimes less than human…and sometimes more.

This new association with a legion of ninja spirits had acquainted him with a vastly more terrible truth, that his Aramata clan and all the others but for the poor and wild Kaguyas had known of the coming cataclysm that had destroyed them. They'd all known all along of the Mist Village's treachery and of the Fire-tongue Fleet and had _allowed_ themselves to be consumed, allowed themselves to bear responsibility for the civil wars so that Kirigakure could move on and know a time of peace for however long or short it lasted.

All at once he knew what he was about to face in Krishenay Rahaman and the 108 Demons. They were no longer a wild pack of preternatural monsters, horrifying enough in their own right. They had merged to form a single, unified creature many times more powerful than the sum total of their individual selves. Midori Hirai, the first Mizukage, who'd vanquished the 108 Demons decades before, was here with him along with all her powers and yet this was a much more difficult and dangerous enemy. The tactics she'd employed would be of little use now.

Haku now knew from her how powerful the Hirai Clan's jutsu she'd developed had made him. The understandings of all these great ninja that inhabited him built on one another to form a knowledge of how the energies of the world worked – a knowledge backed by a reservoir of supernatural chakra rivaling Naruto's. The Candlelight Gate Jutsu had created a rift carefully balanced between the positive and negative energies of the universe within which its laws could be superseded and its powers directed by the influence of Haku's will and the subtle applications of his chakra. At the same time, he'd never been more fragile. Like a surfer atop a great wave, he did not own this power but was only able to harness it for a time as long as he kept his balance.

Lord Hirai knew this which was why he would not fear granting him this power. In this state, the ninja-lord could bring him to an end with a single de-stabling thought using his Dao magic.

The multitude of lifetimes, memories and experiences, reminded Haku, confirming without a doubt, of the danger Naruto was in. Being powerful, having inside him the Kyuubi-no-Yoko, made his friend valuable – far too valuable for Lord Hirai to simply leave alone. But the former Demon's Apprentice hadn't needed his disembodied companions to tell him that.

Frowning, Haku stumbled to his feet, _demanded_ quiet from his guests as he gathered himself, then went through the exercises of the Eight-Section Brocade Master Zabuza had taught him what seemed like a lifetime ago. The slow, therapeutic movements of the form helped to unite the teenager's body with his new minds and settle the flow of his multiple chakras. The memories, uniquely his own, from when he was a half-starved eight-year old struggling to learn it helped him map the precincts of what was his and what was theirs. When complete, Haku stood still for a few minutes to assure himself then put his newfound powers to a little test.

* * *

In Castle Hirai's training hall, Lord Hirai strolled, observing his clan's youngest members as they practiced their martial arts, making corrections and offering little words of support or rebuke when warranted. The man old stiffened as the bells hung strategically in the upper corners of the dojo's soaring, beamed ceiling all began to chime. Wary, he turned around, smiled then bowed deeply.

"Lord Aramata," he greeted with an attitude appropriate to receiving potentates. "You're looking well. I'm pleased you survived."

All the young shinobi and shinobi-in-training, little six to nine year old boys and girls many with similar features to their grand patriarch, looked back and forth with some anxiety between their elder and the young newcomer whose chakra presence almost made the walls bow.

"Don't be alarmed, children," Lord Hirai soothed. "In fact, I'm greatly pleased that this gentleman has come to pay us a visit so that I can introduce you all to our young master, Lord Haku Aramata – a great shinobi from a legendary shinobi clan." The silver-haired patriarch looked around at his young charges. "Our clan has had its differences certainly, as you may recall from your lessons, with him and his sensei, Zabuza Momochi in the recent past but those days are behind us. With this in mind we must be grateful to him and his clan for their service, past AND present, to the preservation of our village." The councilor of Kirigakure bowed again and, this time, his dojo full of young heirs followed suit.

The visitor, cognizant of his tender audience, softened his expression and returned the courtesy. "Councilor Hirai," Haku began, "a word with you if I may?"

"Well of course!"

With that the two drew apart from the curious children who at least made attempts at the appearance of returning to their training.

"I intend to defeat the 108 Demons just as I said. But you should know that Naruto is my friend. If he comes to harm," intoned Haku, "I will devote the rest of my life to making sure you regret it."

The old man's grin was genial enough but his words were hard: "All the wisdom you now possess and yet you ignore it to visit me with this absurd apparition and make pointless, juvenile threats. I can't say I'm all that surprised, but you know as well as I do what's at stake," he announced and looked off abstractedly toward the racks of practice weapons, scrolls of zen calligraphy, painted likenesses and cracked photographs of ninja masters from his clan's long history. "Defeat the 108 Demons and your little yellow-headed friend will still be here, safe and sound when you return. Fail," he went on to explain, "and I will bargain with what chips I may."

Haku's expression steeled into an intense frown. "Naruto's life is not to be…to be traded away like some -."

"Stop!" barked the centenarian ninja-lord in naked annoyance, eyes glaring down coldly from a stern, imperious face. "Stop this insufferable melodramatic nonsense. Despite how your maudlin sensibilities inform you, the jinchurriki's life is no more or less valuable than anyone else's. He is a piece in play and I will use him in whatever way I can to achieve the most agreeable outcome. The fate of the entire Mist Village hangs in the balance so if I need to exchange one more jinchuuriki to preserve it then that is exactly what I will do. You of all people know the sacrifices generation after generation of ninja have made to preserve their village; to preserve your master's village, to preserve your family's village. If you fall, if your Naruto falls, then so be it. You'll hardly be the first and you won't be the last. Have I made my point?"

Haku gave him a sullen, intractable grimace but remained chastened and silent.

"Good. Now then," Lord Hirai concluded gravely, "that jutsu won't last long, so don't you have some demons to kill?"

With that, the old man sneered and the apparition of Haku vanished, exorcised by the old shinobi's will.

* * *

Once that part of himself returned to him, Haku grinned grimly and looked up. "Was I convincing?" he asked his cohabitants out of habit. Speech was quite unnecessary. "I assumed he'll be less on guard if I reacted the way he expected me to."

Yukiko Aramata answered that he was and expressed a grandmother's pleasure that her grandchild and heir turned out to be clever if a little misguided. The Hirai souls embedded with him had rather different ideas but, for the common good, kept them quiet.

Haku took some solace in that – an affirmation from the hereafter that they had confidence enough in him to let him take the lead. In any event, time was wasting and Councilor Hirai had been right in saying that he had things to do and with countless lives at stake. Meanwhile, as far as Naruto was concerned, he'd just have to hope that his contingency plan worked…however tenuous it was.

Gathering himself for the battle to come, the former Demon's Apprentice drew a breath, took a step and appeared that instant in Kirigakure.

* * *

**Hideo**

Under the sweeping, tile-clad overhangs of Castle Hirai's loftiest pagoda sat a featureless chamber, empty but for a plain and primitive sarcophagus evocative of civilizations long dead. Every few inches, no more than a hand's width apart, a grid-work of chalk lines all bright red crisscrossed it's smooth, wooden face.

Diffuse amber light glowed over it, not from windows, but panels of translucent stone. From the beams above dozens and dozens of bells hung: some thick-walled and sturdy while others were delicate, even dainty. One of them began to shiver slightly as a tiny spot on the concrete floor directly beneath it darkened. The spot grew wider, sprouting beads of water then suddenly gushed into a stream, rising up to take human form. The bells began to chime, just a few at first then in scores. Under the unseen force of their music, the water-man retreated, chased away by the magic-laden sound so that by the time the tower's sentinels arrived, the chamber was as still, dry and empty as it had been before.

* * *

Having reconstituted himself deep below the murky waters of one of Castle Hirai's seepage pits, Hideo opened his eyes. To feel true frustration was something he was no longer capable of and yet still the vestiges of it bubbled up from somewhere deep within his resuscitated flesh.

'_I'm sorry to prevail on you like this, especially since you've already saved my life once,'_ Haku's final words before he'd vanished with Lord Hirai drifted like a dream through Hideo's mind, intangible but potent none the less. _'But if you owe me any loyalty, please, PLEASE…get Naruto out of here. Take him back to Konoha. Whatever it takes. Whatever you have to do. Please.'_

Hideo remembered how the young ninja's grey eyes fixed him, burning with a desperation greater, probably, than if he'd been begging for his own life. Hideo, for his part, had spared a glance toward the somewhat dumb-looking blond kid under discussion and failed to see anything in that blue-eyed countenance that might account for such a depth of feeling.

'_Of course, Lord Aramata,'_ he'd answered anyway though he was still unsure why. The jutsu Lord Nikai had used to create him, to force life back into his decades dead and drowned corpse, made it almost impossible to tell which impulses and reactions were his and his alone and those that were merely an extension of his master's will.

So far, the difference hadn't mattered to him as long as he could be a part of Nikai's plans for revenge against Kirigakure no Sato and the ninjas who'd destroyed his village. So few of his life's passions and preoccupations had survived his resurrection undiluted (so to speak). What did it say about humanity that vengeance remained the only desire that remained potent beyond the grave?

And yet, with his master absent, without the clarity of his commands the revenant was struck by a sort of listlessness.

Hideo frowned. Introspection like this never was his strong suit even in life.

Back to the matter at hand - this Naruto had been secured with greater care than he'd assumed but that was no reason to fret. Rarely is anything ever put into storage that the owner doesn't at least intend to unearth again at some point. He would simply have to pick the right time to secure the young leaf-ninja's freedom and thereby keep faith with Lord Aramata. One great advantage about being dead – there was no need to hurry. After all he had _forever_ to wait.

* * *

**Sakura**

Still quite a ways from the dreary and mist-shrouded shoreline, Sakura's chakra gave out. Her racing footfalls, speeding so surely over the waves for so long, suddenly caught and she went with a gasp, plunging headlong into the cold brine. Recovering quickly enough, the girl floated for moment to gather her wits and bobbed up and down in the water before setting into a smooth, calm, freestyle swim, all the while keeping an eye out for her teammates who were struggling too.

The young ninja had kind of assumed her strength and training would be enough to get her to land but as she continued on, making so little progress despite her efforts, losing sight at times of her destination and her companions as the waves pitched and loomed, dark against a leaden sky, frustration settled in. She forced herself to rest and float, treading water for a time to let her burning arms recover before setting out yet again.

When at last, still far from shore, the sea dipped as she rested and she felt the wondrous sensation of a silty bottom under her toes, it was if all of Heaven and Earth had come to her rescue. For a few minutes more, Sakura half swam, half bounce-walked until finally she had a sense of a ground beneath her and she could stand and kind of catch her breath.

"Sakura!" Chouji's distant voice called to her.

The girl brushed salty ribbons of pink hair from her face and looked through the undulating waves and wisps of cloudlike veil to her stocky teammate, some dozens of feet away with Shikamaru dozens more past him. Kiba, who'd had a head start, was far ahead. The waves breaking against his lean waist gave her hope that reaching solid ground really wasn't as desperate a goal as she'd feared.

Slogging ashore at last, battered by the surf the whole way, a grateful and exhausted Sakura dropped to her hands and knees and coughed the stubborn sea-snot from her nose and mouth. Chouji, his arm draped woefully around Shikamaru's neck, broke away from his friend, collapsed and lay down flat on his back among the rocks; his barrel chest and expansive tummy heaving like bellows for breath.

Kiba, though weary, stood and looked appraisingly over the rocky landscape in which they'd found themselves like an explorer taking his first glimpse of a new world while Akamaru yapped once then shook his white fur dry.

"Kiba!" ranted an equally-bedraggled and waterlogged Shikamaru whose always perfect top-knot had come completely undone. "What the hell-," he stumbled slightly as he adjusted his stride to avoid stepping on a scuttling crab, "What the hell was _that_ for, just jumping into the ocean and running off?"

Sakura staggered to her feet and joined their team leader, nodding crisply, echoing the sentiment.

"We had to," Kiba explained unrepentantly. "The ship was turning around, taking us to who knows where. That point was the closest to Kirigakure we were gonna get."

The chunin seemed taken aback a bit by the unexpected soundness of the argument but was still far from satisfied. Un-mollified, he crossed his arms. "You might've warned us."

Kiba grinned, one fang showing, tattooed crescents crinkling around his eyes. "Sorry about that. But if I'd waited then we'd have been ever further out when we started!"

Shikamaru's face fell, the wind gone from the sails of his anger for now, and Sakura couldn't tell if he was ready to move on or continue the argument. The kunoichi decided to make the decision for him. Expressing a peeved, deliberately girlish sigh, the pink-haired ninja turned to their team-leader. "So what's our plan, Shikamaru?"

The ninja looked up at her blankly at first then frowned. "There's not really a plan anymore. We _were_ supposed to sail _around_ Kirigakure and rendezvous with a cell of Yotsu Triad smugglers on the mainland."

"The Yotsus?" Sakura couldn't hide her shock. "THAT gang of criminals? What for?"

"Because they know how to get people and things into and out of almost anywhere, including the Hidden Mist Village."

"Oh," muttered the kunoichi as she quickly reappraised things. "And now we're -."

"Way not where we're supposed to be; that's right."

Kiba turned back toward them. "Come on guys, don't be so grumpy! We're ninja; we'll just have to do what we do best," he proclaimed with a big thumb's up, "display," he smiled wide, wolfish eyes lighting up like a magician's, "adaptability!"

Chouji, as soggy and limp as an overused dish-sponge, slouched up beside Shikamaru, groaning, "He means we're gonna be making it up as we go, doesn't he?"

Shikamaru frowned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is troublesome." There was really no other way to put it.

* * *

**Shikamaru**

Exhausted from their unplanned flight from the ship that had brought them from Wave Country, the chunin thought it best to find shelter and rest awhile. There were a number of advantages to that, including that it would give him some time to come up with a new strategy. Since the original depended on them reaching the mainland far to the east of the island where Kirigakure lay and they were more or less marooned on an island just southwest, there didn't seem like much chance of salvaging anything of that. Still he had to examine all possibilities.

Expressing a quiet sigh, Shikamaru looked around at his teammates who sat in a circle, all much dryer now after a good toweling off and a change of clothes; the wet ones hanging like so many soggy banners from a sagging, makeshift clothesline in what was the last of the evening light. Sakura and Chouji's spirits had recovered and the two exchanged good-natured banter while Kiba (shockingly) sat quietly on a stone, bent forward, staring at nothing. Still, the young ninja broke from his reverie readily enough and smiled when Chouji offered him a packet of food pills and even some of his sacredly-held potato chips – still miraculously salty and crispy thanks to the power of catastrophe-resistant containers.

Shikamaru hated the idea of going into their supply of rations this early in the mission but there was nothing for it. All-in-all it was probably a better idea to eat and rest tonight then set out afresh tomorrow morning. At least the weather was good – misty but not rainy. Ideally there would be a campfire too to help things along but they were all experienced-enough shinobi that knew better than to build one this close to the Mist Village.

"Shikamaru," Sakura inquired delicately as she broke from the group to consult him, "any ideas about how we're going to get Naruto back?"

The black-haired leaf-ninja frowned. "No good ones," he admitted. "We can follow the islands north and around to the mainland to pick up with the original plan but that's going to take a lot of time. Along the way we can look for other possibilities but it's kind of a long shot."

"What kind of possibilities?"

"Well," Shikamaru explained, "it's a long-held tradition for the houses of ninja clans to have secret passages - escape tunnels they can use in case of trouble. We might get lucky and find one."

"I see, and then follow it into Kirigakure." She raised a pale, pink eyebrow, and gave him a teasing, capricious smile. "So does the Nara clan have something like that – an escape route from Konoha?"

Shikamaru bit his lip and looked off awkwardly then quickly transitioned: "Our best bet is still with the smugglers."

Sakura flashed a victorious smirk but otherwise let him get away with it. "Why's that?"

"Because their ways inside generally stay open with help from people on the inside." The group's leader stirred the ground with his foot then turned to Sakura with a serious expression on his face. "Regardless of what we do to try and find Naruto it's imperative that we avoid detection. This close to the Mist Village, we're really going to have to put our ninja skills to the test – move fast, leave no trace, remain unseen and completely quiet."

No sooner had Shikamaru said that then Kiba sucked in a breath that bowed his chest, canted his face toward the grey heavens and let loose with a spine-chilling, lupine howl. As the ninja's hollow, haunting cry rang through the air, Shikamaru, Sakura and Chouji all stared, temporarily hypnotized with disbelief and fascination that any human being could even be capable of producing a sound like that.

When at last Kiba ceased, he wiped his lips, took a thirsty swallow from his canteen, then harkened as his notes returned to him faintly in echo.

Shikamaru blinked. "Uh," he began, "what was that all about?"

"Yeah, Kiba, that was kinda scary," croaked Chouji in his raspy voice. "Like…right out of a horror movie or something!"

Kiba raised an eyebrow. "You guys _never_ had the urge to howl at the moon?"

The chunin blanked for a moment, not sure if his teammate was serious or not. "No, no…can't say I have." He consulted the heavens then continued drily: "Plus, it's still _before _sunset and completely overcast."

A hush fell over the group and Kiba's face widened with a clever smile as the darkening distances inland responded to his howl with a chorus of its own – the pitchy voices of wolves rising one after the other in an eerie arrhythmic song.

"You don't know what you're missing," the genin advanced. "It'll make you feel better. Besides," Kiba pointed out, "you can't watch clouds at night. When it is night, I mean."

* * *

Sometime later, as they sat and waited well past sunset, Shikamaru, Sakura and Kiba all looked up sharply as Chouji, who'd drawn first watch, bolted from the dark forest and took shelter behind the chunin.

"We're SURROUNDED!" he reported in a quaking voice at which Shikamaru grimaced and reached forward to raise the shield on their lantern. If a fight was at hand, at least there'd be plenty of shadows to harness for his Nara clan jutsus.

The ninja looked toward the tree-line keenly and gasped at all the pairs of golden, feral eyes that glowed right back at him before turning away from the light and vanishing.

"Hold on," urged Kiba who stood up, gesturing for calm, and gave forth with a series of growls and bays.

Everyone's' eyes widened nervously nonetheless as the wolves stepped from the darkness in apparent, though still tenuous, deference to their Inuzuka master who produced for them a t-shirt – cream colored with the red emblem of Fire Country emblazoned on the chest – then tossed it down for their inspection.

Kiba stood with arms crossed as, in twos and threes, the wolves nuzzled and sniffed until the entire pack had had its turn.

"Wait," Sakura noticed, "is that Naruto's shirt?"

"Where'd you get that?" added Chouji.

Kiba canted an eyebrow. "He left it when he slept over the other night. Yeah, we did each other's hair and played Parcheesi…what DIFFERENCE does it make how I got it; you're missing the point!"

"Ok, ok, I get it," Shikamaru interrupted smoothly, having taken his seat again. "And that's pretty smart if you can get those wolves to track down Naruto by scent. But there're _dozens _of islands in Water Country, what makes you think he could be anywhere around here?"

The genin's expression conceded the point even before his words did. "I don't know," he muttered. "It's just a feeling."

"A feeling?"

Kiba nodded.

"So we're out here in the middle of the woods in Water Country," Shikamaru summarized; his sarcasm biting, "close to Kirigakure and its legions of psychopathic mist-ninja…but you've got a feeling."

"Hey, If you got a better idea, Shikamaru -."

"I HAD more than an idea, I had a plan."

"Which went all to shit when we ran into that blockade!" snarled Kiba with a scowl as he drew up to his stone-faced leader. "If we'd done it your way we'd be on our way BACK to Wave Country!"

"Which would be better than where we are now!"

"Cool off, kids," Sakura broke in, "now's not the time."

Shikamaru grimaced at first then had to acknowledge the effectiveness of the kunoichi's chastening remark. Kiba too seemed to take it in the spirit intended and backed off, turned sharply and paced away, leaving the chunin to sulk at first then consider what might happen next.

* * *

**Sakura**

The faint glow of a shielded lantern with low cut-off angle was not nearly the same as that of crackling, reassuring campfire but it would have to do. With Akamaru curled into a comfortable white crescent at his feet, Kiba sat on his folded-up coat and looked up at Sakura's approach.

"Hey, Kiba," she offered, "you ok?"

The teenager nodded with a disarming smile. "Sure," he answered as the kunoichi sat beside him. "Why wouldn't I be? Oh, uh, sorry about all this: jumping ship and all. Maybe I really should've given you a little more warning."

Sakura cocked her head. "That's ok, you were doing what you thought was right and maybe you were. The longer we take, the less chance we'll have finding Naruto."

"And Haku," Kiba pointed out. "Hey, you're not all worried just 'cause me and Shikamaru had a fight, are you?"

"No, that's pretty typical, I guess, but you have been acting a little strange since we started out."

"Strange how?"

She shrugged. "Maybe…a little more _intense_ than usual."

"Well sure," the genin admitted with an affirmative grunt. "We _got_ to get Naruto back, right? I mean, we'd look pretty stupid losing both Naruto AND Sas-." He bit his lip with a mortified look. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said it like that. I shouldn't have said it at all."

Forcing aside the unintended reminder of her former teammate and her first love, Sakura tried to sound nonchalant: "It's alright. I'm not made of glass, y'know."

Kiba managed a faint grin.

"Do you think we can do it? Actually find them?"

"Sure we can." The wolfish ninja advanced, brow narrowing. "We _will._"

"But they've gone to Kirigakure, I mean – Kirigakure: the Village Hidden in the Mist. How can you be so sure?"

"Come on, Sakura. We all know Naruto's crazy but Haku's not. He'd have a pretty good idea of what he was up against and wouldn't have gone in without some kind of plan. Think about it: Haku knows the place, he's plenty smart, and quiet, well trained AND he's got that kekkei-genkai. If he had a rank he'd be a chunin for sure, wouldn't he?" The teenager leaned toward her. "I've seen him fight. He's not just going to stumble around like some idiot and get caught…and he won't let Naruto get caught either."

The girl blinked then canted her head. "You -," Sakura paused and began again, struck by her teammate's assessment. "Maybe you're right." She smiled cheerily. "I've been so worried that something will happen to them that I never thought about what if they're perfectly fine. Can you imagine," said the pink-haired kunoichi with a giggle, "what if we go through all this trouble, show up and they don't need rescuing at all!"

They shared a laugh. "Well…don't get carried away," advised Kiba. "There's a good chance we're in for some _seriously_ crazy shit." When he turned to her, the look in his eyes could only be described as _shamanic_. "The not knowing's kind of exciting, huh?"

* * *

**Shikamaru**

In the sharply focused circle of vision magnified many times by his field glasses, Shikamaru watched the soldiers disembark and organize themselves into formations along the rugged shoreline. The leaf-ninja could hear the drums and horns of the Water Country Signal Corps from here. The longer he watched, the gloomier he became.

At length, he repacked the binoculars and sped back to camp where, thankfully, everyone was already awake and nearly packed up.

"We gotta go, guys, and fast," he announced. I don't know what's going on in Kirigakure but the Water Country Daimyo sent _everybody_ – pikemen, archers, cavalry, they were unloading siege equipment when I left and…" It was at that point that the black-haired chunin noticed the enormous wolf Kiba was talking to – a shaggy creature with a hulking back, long, whiskered snout and broad, cloverleaf paws. "Well?"

A kneeling Kiba patted the beast, scratched behind its scarred felt-like triangle of an ear then looked up with a widening, told-you-so smile.

"You're kidding?" said Shikamaru, nonplussed.

The genin shrugged, mirthfully capricious. Even Akamaru seemed to share the expression, tongue hanging out as he panted easily.

"_Seriously?"_

"I'm sorry," said Kiba with affected confusion, "_who's_ a better tracker than me?"

The taller leaf-ninja froze. This was a HUGE development, nearly miraculous, but he'd have to eat some serious crow first. "No one," he made himself answer. "Especially not Shino."

"Alright then," Kiba whole-heartedly agreed, letting his team-leader off the hook. "Yup, I got him; I got Naruto! He was here, right here, on _this_ island. The scent's not even that old." The ninja rose proudly and tapped a nostril. "All we need to do now is follow my nose, find Naruto, find Haku, beat up anyone who gets in the way then it's back to Konoha to get a medal from the Hokage."

Akamaru barked happily then raced around, returning to his partner who rewarded him with an affectionate pat on the head and scratch under the chin.


	29. House of Candlelight Part 3

_Hi again, and welcome back. Hope you like!_

_-Jonohex_

* * *

**Hate… **

**long wearing thin**

**.**

**Negative…**

**All you've been**

**.**

**Time to trade in never befores**

**Selling out for the score**

**.**

**Seems you prophesized**

**all of this would end**

**Were you burned away when the sun**

**rose again?**

**.**

_When the Sun Rose Again - Alice in Chains_

* * *

**Lord Hirai**

Lord Kissohamaru Hirai, the august Grand Patriarch of the Hirai Clan and Councilor of Kirigakure, rose in the early quiet well before dawn as he always did. The complex rituals and ablutions, the exercises required to perform, the spells to cast, herbs and infusions to imbibe that preserved his life and kept him vital, that held back the true ablative effects of the ages like a dam before a wide and swollen river all required enormous devotion and diligence, and could only be denied at great peril.

When he was through at last, the ninja-lord inspected himself in the looking-glass, combed and pomaded his coif of straight, silver hair into place then adjusted the collar and cuffs of his embroidered coat. Even at well past ninety, this despite a lifetime spent in a profession that tended to take a dreadful toll on its members, he was still handsome – his features regal, teeth white and posture straight, his eyes an unclouded window to a mind potent, full of secrets and the elusive mysteries of both ninjutsu and Dao magic.

As Lord Hirai dressed, the hermetic silence of the old shinobi' s sanctum was disturbed by the rising sound of a soft, high-pitched ring at which he turned curiously with one gray eyebrow raised. One of the guardian bells that hung in the corners of his chamber had started to chime.

The Patriarch's colorless lips slanted into a grimace. "Danger comes and at this hour," he muttered to himself then took a wearied breath. _Odd,_ thought the old man as the ringing became more insistent. _I wasn't expecting them until much later – well past dawn at least. Those two especially never stuck me as early-risers. Well, _concluded he, _there's nothing for it. I had better go and treat with them._

Pacing from the comforts of his chambers, the Councilor's more-or-less constant preoccupations with the future of Mist Village were driven off by the clamor of bells rising not just from his rooms but throughout the tower, ringing from outside, ringing from _everywhere_ edging louder, louder and louder still!

Transported with alarm, the old man quickened his long-legged gait to a set of thick doors bound with iron, flung them open and rushed out into the open air, onto the battlements that circled Castle Hirai's citadel. Along the walls and from every soaring pagoda, the old shinobi's bells, all crafted with the carefully-engraved characters from his lexicon of Dao magic, chimed, rang or gonged in a cacophonous crescendo that echoed and throbbed off the walls and drew the guards swarming from their barracks.

The old man reeled amidst the escalating din, his mind struggling to fathom what sort of force could menace the entire castle, who would _dare_ attack the most powerful ninja clan in Water Country? Hirai's steely eyes swept past the stout, stone walls of his castle to the sea, lit now in the first orange rays of sunrise. There, emerging like ghosts from the mist-feathered waters – a fleet of low-slung ships, their long, wide decks bristling with weapons no man on earth should possess; weapons the very existence of which were a crime throughout the Elemental Nations.

Slapping footsteps, clumsy and loud in their thoughtless hurry, approached and Lord Hirai looked down into the determined faces of his own house guard – cousins so distant he could barely remember exactly how they were related, let alone their names.

"Lord Hirai!" their leader, barely more than a child in his late twenties or early thirties, yet with a competent-enough look about him announced, "We have to move you to safety."

The others circled around the ninja-lord and firmly but politely took hold of him steeled against any objection, no matter that he was their grand-patriarch. The guardians pushed and pulled the Councilor from where he stood, rushing the old man along as they headed for the stairway down to the vaults. Over their shoulders and the tops of their heads, their master's gaze swiveled back toward the sea, his face pale in disbelief.

_Impossible!_ thought the Councilor as the Fire-Tongue Fleet's vast arsenal of rocket-launchers vomited forth, stitching the sky with trails of smoky, vaporous white that slashed toward and over the walls of his castle; Hirai cringed at the sight and then the deafening booms that thundered through his aged frame as the towers that marched along the eastern palisade burst, vanishing in percussive geysers of white flame, eruptions of stone streaking skyward like blazing comets.

"Protect Lord Hirai!" the guard-leader screamed over the tumult then settled into a stance for a jutsu heedless of the debris raining down – shattered pan-tiles and splinters of flaming timber. "Water-style: Water Fortress," he cried as a great bubble, feet thick, rose up to shield them from the onslaught just as a missile struck it full on and detonated. The shinobi's jutsu, strong enough to hold an avalanche in check, held for a moment, only a moment, cradling the explosion like a tiny, flickering star until the power of the Fire-Tongue's warhead tore through with a bubbling boil.

Twisting his head to look back, the ninja-lord beheld briefly a flash of blinding light as implacable and all-consuming as the sun rising to fill his vision, rising to swallow everything whole as his body and those of his defenders surrendered to the explosion's fiery embrace.

* * *

**Orimi**

The Lady Magistrate of Wave Country, Commander of the Mist Village garrison, sat at her expansive desk, her face cross as she tried doggedly to muscle through an appallingly-large stack of paperwork while all its many cousins waited at her left and right.

Under Gato's reign, essentially, there'd been no law. What law there'd been before that, which Orimi had restored by fiat, had been pretty scant and was proving to be wholly inadequate to deal with the much larger, faster-paced and more complicated place the island was evolving into. As the final authority, any issue that remained ambiguous or fell through the cracks ended up for her to decide personally, and it was rarely easy.

_Why can't these fuckers just play nice!_ the chunin grumbled but she already knew it was useless to ask. If humanity were not such a contentious lot by nature it wouldn't need laws at all, let alone ninja.

An insistent knock issued from her door.

"Come!" Orimi barked then looked up as junior constable Daigo entered, a bit more stiffly than usual.

"Lady Magistrate," the boy began with a tremor in his usually militant voice, "there's a Commander Asai here to see you. He said it can't wait."

The round-faced woman's lips froze in a scowl. Her heart sank as the catalog of every prosecutable offence she'd ever committed in her life swept through her mind, most seriously of which was her aiding and abetting of the notorious fugitive, The Demon's Apprentice, Haku. "Send him in," the magistrate, not being one who put things off, offered glumly yet with resolve.

The man himself entered almost at once – a long-limbed ninja in standard mist-shinobi fatigues and armored jacked, his silver hitai-ate with the seal of Kirigakure engraved upon it sitting low over his eyes. "Lady Orimi," he greeted then bowed low but quickly, popping upright before Orimi could even begin her bow in return.

"Commander," the woman managed with a polite, half-hearted smile, "welcome to Wave Country, I -."

"Excuse me, Ma'am," Asai interrupted, holding up an impatient palm. "I'm sorry but I have a lot to impart to you and time is critical."

"Of course," replied she with an uneasy frown.

The commander produced a scroll case and quickly handed it to her. "Magistrate Hirai," he began with a touch of perfunctory ceremony as she accepted it, "you have been field-promoted to _jonin._"

The kunoichi's eyes widened. "Jonin?" she repeated incredulously then looked again at the messenger just to make sure he was serious. "I…I can't believe it. I can't even remember the last time anybody was given a rank that high without taking the tests, maybe back during the civil wars or something." Slightly stunned, Orimi fumbled with the case and made an effort to pry open and review the document within. "Lord Oku really approved this?"

"Lord Oku is _dead_," Asai informed her bluntly.

"_What!?"_

"Lady Chinami Inoue is now the provisional Mizukage."

It was like being slapped twice. For a moment the Magistrate stared as if in a trance, blood rushing to her head. "Wait, wait, wait -," she demanded, shaking her head with each word as she recovered, but her visitor pressed on anyway.

"Lord Oku was one of the many killed by a plague inflicted upon Kirigakure no Sato by remnants of the Tsujita Clan and their blood-gifted allies two days ago. The Mist Village stands now under quarantine."

"Heaven and Earth," gasped Orimi, not knowing what else to say until finally: "But what about my great, great -." She stopped herself and cleared her throat. "What about Lord Hirai? Why isn't he in charge? HE'S the senior counselor."

Asai spared her a tight, charitable grin. "Ma'am, that decision was made _far_ above my pay grade."

"Of course," the woman was forced to concede, feeling a bit foolish, really, for having asked.

"Lady Orimi," the commander began again, "I have also come to inform you that the provisional Mizukage has appointed you _Governor_ of Wave _Province_ and Commander of the Mist Village's Northeastern Security Regiments."

Orimi barely suppressed a chuckle. There was only so much surrealism the kunoichi could stand at any one time and she'd already crossed her limit. "Has she now?" she quipped dubiously, thinking of her little garrison of freshly-minted juveniles and old reprobates.

The man gestured. Orimi looked back and forth between him and the office's bay window then slowly went to it.

Past the glass and down below, standing in ranks at parade-rest – _hundreds_ of blue-clad mist-shinobi, enough to fill the street nearly end-to-end.

Again Orimi gasped, quite in violation of what passed for her sense of decorum. _So here it is, _the ninja realized after a moment, _we really ARE just gonna take over the place. All those assurances we made about Wave Country remaining a protectorate of Water was just smoke. _She blew out a breath. _A lot of people aren't going to be very happy about this._

"Your orders, Ma'am?"

The woman looked back at Commander Asai. "Well…I guess we'd better find them someplace to stay, huh?" she heard herself say as the more logical part of her brain kicked in. The kunoichi watched her reflection's mouth move almost on its own as she continued. "Ok, we've got quite a few new hotels and guesthouses recently constructed, some near the Great Naruto Bridge and others further out. We'll just…just borrow them for a while, I suppose, eminent domain or whatever, until I can figure out something else or work out a more long-term arrangement.

"There are also some improvised training grounds a gang of rogue ninja built last year and a ruined factory these guys can use for practice areas. And they can't ALL go into the city at once," the new governor pointed out. "Grant them leave in shifts, no more than twenty at a time and you'd better make it clear that they'd better not cause any trouble! I've worked too hard to create a semblance of order in Wave Country and I won't tolerate any ninja with poor impulse control messing it up. All law-enforcement functions will remain the jurisdiction of the constabulary."

Asai grunted affirmatively during Orimi's deliberate pause to assure her he understood.

"Also, I will have maps and surveys of the island delivered to you," continued the Governor, now catching her groove. "By the end of the day tomorrow I shall expect a rough idea of where troops should be stationed, locations of watchtowers, patrol patterns and schedules and recommendations for what security infrastructure is needed to fortify the island against potential invasion. This outline will be refined and developed as time goes on, let's say on a weekly basis for now."

* * *

Once Asai had been dismissed along with his legion, or rather HER legion, Orimi sat back at her desk and allowed herself to feel a measure of normalcy again.

_The Mizukage's dead,_ she pondered gravely. _Killed._ Although the knowledge mustered little enough sympathy for the _bastard _who'd ordered the perversely unjust execution of her sensei there was no denying the sheer magnitude of the event. Her village was under attack, maybe even at war – why else station so many ninja here in Wave Country unless to act as a bulwark against the Leaf and Cloud Villages that might take advantage?

Something else occurred to her and, with it, another alternative: _MY, but it's convenient that we have all these nice, brand new facilities in town that can accommodate the arrival of so many troops. _The woman shook her head in a room that now seemed dreadfully, dreadfully quiet. _Could that have been the plan all along – annex Wave Country; use the funds speculators invested from all over the Elemental Nations to pay for it? _ She shrugged the thought away. Whether true or not, a mind awash in conspiracy theories was not a mind fit for command. Lord Oku himself was a prime example of that.

_And what happened to my grand patriarch Kissohomaru? He HATES Inoue, or so I'd always heard. How the HELL could she be named Mizukage over great-great-grandfather!?_ Orimi couldn't help but muse, along with whether or not the grand old man would have seen fit to lavish such favors upon her as his rival Inoue had just done. The kunoichi hardly thought so, blatant nepotism having never been either his virtue or his vice. On the other hand, Inoue's grace seemed a bit hard to justify.

_I couldn't have made THAT much of an impression on her when she was here,_ pondered Orimi with well-honed suspicion.

"Daigo!" she shouted then, when the genin poked his head in, directed: "Two things: one, tell everyone who comes in all freaked out that I'm still in charge and everything is under control – same as it was before, got it? Spread the word. Two, get copies of every map and survey we have of the island and put them into Commander Asai's hands by the end of the day. Tazuna should have most of them. Enlist whoever and however many people you need to to get that done."

The young ninja nodded crisply then left.

_An attack by blood-gifted clans,_ considered Orimi, dwelling now on another thing that bothered her. _Who'd have thought there were any still around._ Her frown deepened; her dark eyes closed.

_Haku's still around…and his being on-leave right now's an awful coincidence._

The idea impaled her that the best and brightest of her constables, the scion and beneficiary of maybe the most reckless decision she'd ever made in her whole life might have been in on it, that maybe he'd been planning to destroy the Mist Village all along.

_No,_ the woman told herself, _Haku's smart but not, what's the word…cunning, treacherous._

The jonin thought about it again, nursing a doubt. The kid was, after all, The DEMON'S Apprentice and that was a moniker he'd quite often lived up to despite his disarmingly delicate appearance and effeminate manner. _Even Toru had allowed as how Haku might be just like his sensei, Zabuza Momochi, instead of some poor orphan kid who'd gotten swallowed up by his master's ambitions._

_No,_ she decided at last, not because of her confidence in her own judgment but in her sensei's. Pack-Leader Toru "The Akita" Yamashite had spent thirty years hunting down renegade ninja for the ANBU. That man _knew_ what evil looked like when he saw it and, in the end, had spared the teenager's life when he could easily have taken it.

Orimi sighed.

"Sure hope you were right, Toru."

* * *

**Haku**

The teenager walked the disturbingly empty and silent streets of Kirigakure no Sato with his head swirling with memories, hopes, dreams and nightmares only a few of which were his own. Being host to more than one mind was no easy thing, let alone dozens. Everywhere he looked, every sound he heard or scent he detected evoked some memory or other from at least one of his inhabitants. Most of them had grown up here, lived here, had family here; many of the experiences that defined who they were in this life as well as the next were experienced here. Within all those minds, tempted now by their return to the material world, old feelings began to stir: love, loss, ambitions great and small, and all the earthly rivalries. On their own, this crew would probably be at each other's throats. The one thing, really the ONLY thing, that gave them unity was that (with the conspicuous exception of Haku himself) they were all mist-ninja – they'd all sworn oaths to protect Kirigakure and that remained the 'tie that binds' even in death.

Haku harkened curiously. Far-away echoes of the battle to come fluttered in his ears and it was more than a vague clairvoyance or some illusion brewed by anticipation. Some of the fearsome energies he and the 108 Demons were about to exchange dissipated, moving forward or backwards in time and his newfound senses were keen to them. Already the teenager could mark the pace of a furious battle to come and it made him pause and wonder for a moment about cause and effect. How could he hear the sounds of a fight he was in yet had not yet entered? The idea that he was enslaved to some predetermined path made him uneasy.

The Demon's Apprentice stopped, not due to this puzzling philosophical paradox about the nature of the universe but because he just realized he was wearing his old clothes, the very ones he worn into battle against Konoha's team seven what seemed like a lifetime ago - a knee-length, short-sleeved robe of muted jade green trimmed in tan worn over a brown, turtle-necked shirt and baggy hakima-style pants. Traditional wooden sandals rested under his feet, clicking against the cobblestones as he started forward again; against his chest he could feel the reassuring weight of senbon in their concealed quivers.

It was not an illusion or re-creation of some sort. This was the young ninja's original ensemble; his newfound powers had conjured them.

Underneath the white ANBU mask that covered his face, Haku smirked. _I suppose this is a little more appropriate than a floral kimono, _he had to concede, _not to mention more practical. Let's just hope they bring me better luck this time._

Looking up into Kirigakure's perpetually leaden sky, he had a thought and frowned. _No that won't do. Whatever powers I have now, wind and water are allies by blood. Most likely, I will need all the help I can get._ With a slight exercise of his chakra, the clouds began to darken and swirl until a raindrop dashed across the lacquered cheek of Haku's zodiac mask.

A tremor just then on the outskirts of his awareness let him know of the attack well before it materialized. It was not Krishenay Rahaman but a team of five, all very well versed in ninjutsu. They moved without sound, barely even disturbing the air, keeping the intensity of their intent subdued as only true experts would although there was one who seemed to be slipping.

Haku maintained his unhurried pace, betrayed nothing, and when the attack came it was beautiful to behold. The three swordsmen appeared out of nowhere in flashes of harmonious movement, the arcs of each one's cut carefully positioned to limit the angles of his escape to a virtual impossibility. After they'd passed, the other two were there in a display of truly magnificent teamwork to imprison him a double-strong Water Prison Jutsu. Had he not been so empowered by Lord Hirai, Haku was all but certain that the six pieces his body would have been sliced into would now be floating like so much bloody chum within this watery sphere. As it was though, the first three stumbled to a stop, nursing their wrists, their swords having wrenched from their grasp. With as much chakra as The Demon's Apprentice now possessed there'd been no need to counter or dodge. The energy within him, even at its most passive, was more than enough to keep mere steel from harming him.

Though the watery veil Haku could see the two white-masked faces and read the mist-ninjas' trepidation that their foe remained unharmed. That trepidation turned to shock as the teenager stepped from their impregnable bubble without so much as a flicker of effort. Nevertheless, professionals that they were, all five maintained the presence of mind to regroup and surround him - cutting off retreat if that were his plan as the Water Prison burst apart and collapsed to the pavement with a splash.

"Something I said?" Haku offered blithely in answer to their silence while the voices inside him roared angrily at being so mistreated by their fellow shinobi.

"Be as flip as you like, Demon's Apprentice," a mask growled, this one an abstracted boar, and one of Haku's ghosts piped happily in recognition. "You must've lost your damn mind thinking you could come back here again. Shit! Look at you; you're still wearing the same fucking outfit you did two years ago!"

Beneath his own mask, Haku grimaced awkwardly. "Ah, right," he admitted. "Sorry about that. With so much to think about, I sort of forgot I was still a fugitive." His inhabitants groaned at their vessel's thoughtlessness although, in the teenager's defense, this fact had slipped their minds as well.

The kunoichi in the snake mask shifted her stance slightly. "How," she began in a hesitating tone, how come you're alive? The bingo book said Toru the Akita killed you."

Haku knew he knew that voice but couldn't quite recall from where and then a name came to him. _Momone,_ he realized.

A number of the voices within him grumbled as they, privy to Haku's thoughts, knew as well as he did that this kunoichi had been part of Zabuza's Fifth Column. Somehow, even with the former Mizukage, Lord Oku, spooked, jumping at shadows and executing anyone who fell under even a trace of suspicion, she had managed to survive.

"Who cares," the woman's boar-masked companion snarled direly. "Maybe he _put out _for that fat fuck like he did Zabuza. It doesn't matter; this ladyboy's got to die!"

"Sir," offered the deer-mask hesitantly, "we should take him to Terumi. You know she'll want to talk to him; we need all the intel we can get."

Their apparent leader shook his head. "Fuck that!" he raged then pointed a kunai accusingly toward Haku. "THIS fag, this fag right here's an enemy of Kirigakure," the ninja declared. "He was at Zabuza's side when he tried to kill Lord Oku, HAS killed Heaven and Earth knows how many of US! And now…now he's in with the blood-gifted clans to bring more misery and death to the Mist Village. So no, Momone, no, Daichi," the ANBU concluded, "we're not going to capture him, have a nice chat with him or take him to see Terumi; we're going KILL him now. Every _second_ this freak lives is a disgrace."

The teenager frowned. This wasn't going well. Since fighting or fleeing seemed equally inapt, Haku was puzzling together what, if anything, he should do next that might be the least bit helpful when he decided instead to give in to a mental nudge and let one of the others chime in.

"_Yoshio!" _roared the Demon's Apprentice suddenly in a startling voice barely recognizable as his own. "You're still the same little dumb-shit I knew when I was alive." The teenager gave a mocking snicker. "That's why you're still just a chunin, huh?"

The ANBU straightened, aghast, then pulled up his mask revealing a face as belligerent as his words had been. "What kind of sick kind of trick is this?"

The teenager opened his arms and gave a rasping laugh. "It takes more to being a true shinobi then jumping around and swordplay. You got to be smart, stepson. You got to be able to see through deception and tell real from fake."

"B-bullshit," answered Yoshio, clearly rattled. "This is some bullshit trick, ladyboy, and I'm not falling for it."

Haku blew out an exasperated breath. "Kid, this time the trick is: there's no trick. Just ask our clan Matriarch, Lady Seyama, she'll tell you. This is Hirai Clan Jutsu."

The young ninja seemed to lose focus for a moment.

"Look: It's really me, Nariaki, your stepfather," offered Haku. "I know I died when you were only eleven but now I'm back, in here, well…I should say I'm 'renting space' inside Haku for the time being and I'm not alone. Midori Hirai, Chishu Ryu, Takashi Miki and a whole bunch more are in here with me like it's a damn reunion. Speaking just for me," he conceded, "I'd just as soon it _wasn't_ Haku but Lord Hirai kind of stuck us with him. We're teaming up to fight Krishenay Rahaman who's got plenty of company too – he's the 108 fucking Demons, and they've been waiting decades for the chance to destroy Kirigakure which is exactly what they're gonna do if we don't kill 'em all now, today. As for the blood-gifted clans, ah, that would take a while to explain but, put short, you got it mostly wrong. They didn't deserve what they got, and Tsujita was just the plot within the plot."

A hush fell over the street, Haku and the shinobi encircling him.

"What kind of insane story IS this!?" growled Yoshio at last. "Do you…do you actually expect me to BUY this crap your selling just 'cause you figured out how to use my stepfather's voice?"

The Demon's Apprentice shifted impatiently then dropped his chin to his chest as he chuckled grimly. "Son," he offered with a sly snicker, "we're doing you a favor by talking to you. With our combined powers we could pretty much crush you and your whole team like a wormy apple and it'd be a hundred times easier than trying to explain. 'Reason I'm telling you all this is because the sooner you idiots figure out what's really going on the better off the whole village will be 'cause it's gonna need your help." The masked boy looked off, high up into the storm-cloud mantled sky where a bird in flight suddenly plunged earthward despite its frantic efforts to remain aloft.

Haku turned back to his adversaries. "Sorry guys; we got to go," said the ninja. "Yoshio, it's been nice seeing you again. I'd like to say that the next time it'll be under better circumstances but mos' likely it won't."

The Demon's Apprentice quivered a bit, shaking with a spasm then snapped toward Momone. _"YOU!"_ he screeched in an entirely different tone, fists balled with rage as another of the young ninja's selves took over, this time without permission. "_How COULD you?! How could you side with that monster! The D-!"_

The slender ninja cut himself off abruptly before the kunoichi's cousin Mia could finish the accusation, shook again with a spasm then straightened awkwardly. Without another word, Haku composed himself, took a step and vanished.

As for his earlier conundrum, it was already resolved. Simply put: choice at this point was irrelevant. He _could_ stop, he knew (they all knew) even without thinking it explicitly. He just wasn't going to. Neither were the 108 Demons and so that was that.

* * *

**Hideo**

Through the water in the dark place where Hideo hid, tremors shivered from muffled detonations above.

_That's it!_ he realized then commanded his body to flow through the holes lining the walls of the seepage pit, through the pipes and porous ground and up the walls of the high pagoda where the _prisoner_ was kept. All around, white fires raged and explosions thundered while missiles shrieked through the sky over Hirai Castle. Though he had no cause to fear for his own life, a flicker of anxiety broke the revenant's concentration and clarity of purpose for a moment as he saw that one of the translucent stone panels that lined the top-most chamber stood broken open with flames and smoke belching forth.

Streaming around the opening then into the room, Hideo transformed from his aqueous state and faced the angry white flames that threatened to devour the wood sarcophagus within which Lord Haku's friend lay even as the remainder of the chamber's enchanted bells clattered and rang, seeking to drive off the flames as well as the intruder with their peculiar magic.

Gathering his undead chakra, Hideo lashed out his arm, smashing the bells from their mounts with a cascade of water that followed. Though he'd assumed his water-style powers would drown the flames as well, he was profoundly mistaken. Bowed only somewhat by the torrent, the fire roared back, rolling over the water and consuming it, burning it as well, then leaped for Hideo. Not being especially nimble even when he was alive, the would-be rescuer flew back from the preternatural flames but found himself partially ablaze. Although no longer prone to the types of panic that assailed the living, the gravity of the situation did not elude him. Staring at the fire that rose up the hem and sleeve of his clothes in a white curtain, Hideo could sense the life inside it, a pulse of a living chakra that sustained it, motivated it and drove it on. This fire wasn't just LIKE a living thing in the metaphoric sense, it WAS a living thing!

Once past the realization, the revenant switched tactics and resorted to another technique – draining chakra energy to add to his own reserves. The flames weakened as Hideo concentrated, fading to normal oranges and reds, and were easily doused with jets of conjured water.

Outside meanwhile, the assault continued. The castle's defenders, ninja all, retaliated with jutsu, or tried to, as the rockets rained down, the whole world lost under a roil of hellish explosions, gusting pyres of white fire the furnace-heat of which rippled the air.

Hideo spun from where he stood over to the sarcophagus and threw his powers against its wooden lid; his master's jutsu having granted him the strength of a hundred. Shock then when it didn't budge.

The revenant drew back, puzzled; his hands limp at his sides. As he stood there for a moment with the roar of fire, screams and explosions raging from below, Hideo turned his attention to the curious grid-work of red lines that crisscrossed the casket's oblong surface.

"A sealing spell," he told himself, smudged out one of the lines with his thumb then flung the lid aside one-handed.

Within lay a disturbingly pale Naruto Uzumaki, by all appearances as lifeless as Hideo. The revenant tugged the paper talisman from the blond boy's whisker-marked face and watched as he came around, looking first in blue-eyed wonder at Hideo then cringing reflexively at the cacophony of warfare raging all around.

"What," Naruto croaked, continuing to stir, choking on smoke, dizzy and disoriented, "what's going ON?! WHERE'S Lord Hirai?"

"We have to go," Hideo told him.

A rocket glanced against what remained of the outside wall then detonated, shaking the pagoda and filling the gaping opening with a coruscation of fire that poured into the room.

Seizing Naruto with his supernatural strength, Hideo leaped to the door, tore it open then fled the collapsing chamber with a river of white fire pouring down after him. Only after he'd gone quite a ways did he notice the boy in his custody thrashing like a hooked fish, sweating as he strained, face reddened with effort, curses flowing as he pushed and pulled against the revenant's grip.

"What is it?" Hideo asked over the squall of the genin's cries and protests.

The young leaf-ninja, still recovering from Lord Hirai's spell, muted his struggle. "I can't go!" he insisted in a shrill, gravelly voice; eyes like sapphire flames, "not yet!"

* * *

**I'm on the Death Ship, I sail the sea alone**

**Death Ship, I can call no port home**

**Lost, lost souls cry to Hell in the wind**

**Let us in, let us in…**

**.**

_Death Ship – Hoodoo Gurus_

* * *

**Lord Nikai**

The blood-gifted ninja lord sat in a deck-chair, arms crossed with his feet propped up on a crate as he relaxed in the sea air and caught a few rays. After years in relative isolation on his remote island enclave, he found a nice voyage like this to be quite soothing.

His zombie lieutenant, one of the many unfortunate mist-shinobi mariners brought back to a twilight life by the outré powers of his Revelations 20:13 jutsu, approached and saluted.

"I'm sorry, Sir, but we have a problem. There's a line of Water Country ships dead ahead, blocking passage to Kirigakure."

Tohma gave a derisive snort. "That's hardly a problem for us." Blowing out a breath, the shinobi's hands flew through a series of seals. "Water style: Sea Illusions," he intoned as a soft mist began to enshroud the ships of his recently acquired Fire-Tongue Fleet, dissolving its profile and colors from all outward appearances into those of the wind and waves. "They'll never see us. Just the same, have one of the batteries stand by ready to fire. If anyone tries to stop us, I'm sure a few of these rockets will give them something else to think about."

"Yes, Sir!" The Lieutenant snapped a salute, spun around and was off.

_Fire, Fear, Death and Pestilence,_ thought Lord Nikai, _the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. I suppose if the Mist Village couldn't be destroyed by disease then it may as well be by fire. Ah, I should've known not to send poor, soft-hearted Noriyasu in my place. Some things you just have to do yourself if you want to make sure they're done right._

With that, the shaggy-haired ninja-lord filled his lungs with the scent of the sea and looked back at the two other mist-veiled ships chugging along behind him, each with their horrifying arrays of forbidden weapons.

"Yup," the ninja said to himself, having seen with his own eyes exactly WHY they'd been forbidden. High above him, seabirds circled, issuing their sadly selfish cries. "It won't be long now."

* * *

**Yashako**

"It's almost here."

The swordswoman, who'd been sitting on the polished wood floor of the elegant and inescapable confines of the Coral Pavilion with her head hung in defiant silence, looked up sullenly. Dispirited and gloomy, she no longer had much energy for venom. "The end of the world, right?"

Her crippled teacher nodded from where he squatted, blind and legless upon a thick prayer rug, fat and untroubled as some disfigured Buddha.

"You're actually looking forward to this, aren't you?"

"There was a time when I would have said yes," the older jonin reported with a philosophical air. "I gave everything to my village - my legs, my sight, I lived my entire life for Kirigakure no Sato and felt quite betrayed when she turned her back on me. Now, I'm only resigned."

Yashako spat then again hung her head. "A coward's revenge," she hissed through her teeth with palpable disgust.

'The Manatee' gave her a kind grin. "I used to be like you, as you may remember," the ninja offered thoughtfully. "There was a time when I would have thrown myself on the fire for this village as surely as you would now. High on honor, I wouldn't even have felt it. Despise me as much as you like but I'm only saving you from yourself."

The dark-skinned woman rolled her eyes, not caring that her former sensei wouldn't see it. "Aw, bull-shit."

"You would go forth and die," The Manatee informed her with the same gravity as if he'd quoted a holy book, "just as surely as The Demon's little Apprentice is about to."

Yashako's eyes narrowed with a renewed raptorial fierceness. "What did you say?"

The older ninja turned his head, having obviously realized his mistake.

"Wait," she straightened alertly. "You're telling me HAKU'S out there fighting FOR Kirigakure while you got ME stuck here? Haku - the same little shit who helped Zabuza try to chop Lord Oku's head off? The same little shit fucktard who helped Tsujita let loose a plague; whose pet jinchuuriki blew up a chunk of the city!"

The quieter Manatee answered quietly but tersely, "I told you, he was trying to _stop_ Lord Tsujita."

"Man, whatEVER." Yashako's eyes widened with indignation. "He's not even a real mist-ninja for shit's sake, just a criminal and a fugitive! **I'M** a member of the Seven Fucking Shinobi Swordsmen! The only reason we exist in the first place is to protect the Mist Village!"

Silence fell as the jonin stared a hole into her unresponsive captor.

"He's dead nonetheless," the Manatee muttered at last. "A wide, wide river of probability carries him and our village to extinction while only a tiny trickle offers to diverge toward other paths."

Yashako stared again, this time in disbelief. "You know what," the woman demanded finally, "don't even talk to me anymore."

* * *

**Mei**

The jonin stood with head held high, arms akimbo - an angel in luminous blue as she awaited whatever one-hundred and eight demons were capable of unleashing upon the Mist Village's solitary defender.

Before her stretched Piazza Hirai, a broad square bounded by time-stained buildings and occupied by monuments to glories past. At her back, the dark waters of the Kiri Canal framed a boundary to the stretch of city beyond with Kirigakure's main hospital presiding; it's precincts packed with people and patients being evacuated per Mei's last orders.

A surprisingly stiff, cold breeze coming off the slow-moving waters rustled through her mane of auburn hair and she supposed she must be striking quite the heroic figure, as all alone as a bull entering the bullring and maybe just as doomed…or maybe not. Frowning, her emerald eyes lifted toward the distant matador who approached at a maddeningly slow pace.

Mei's jaw tensed as she cursed to herself. _They're sure taking their sweet time,_ the ninja seethed, _deliberately taunting us. The 108 Demons WANT a fight._

Even from clear across the Piazza, the kunoichi could make out the terrible shape of her foe who clung still to the imposing guise of Lord Oku's emissary and executioner, Krishenay Rahaman: taller by a half than most men, shoulders as wide and thick as an ox's, black mustache heavy over a not-quite-right grin, and worst of all the eyes – windows not into the soul of a man, however cursed or flawed, but a gateway into desolation.

Distracted momentarily as she sensed a familiar presence, Mei canted her head slightly and muttered: "Didn't I tell you to stay out of this?"

"Not exactly," answered Captain Ao who drew a step closer, his grim expression making him seem more piratical than usual given his eye-patch, dangling talisman earrings and blue hair cut at a crisp slant. "You only implied it."

A slight smile crossed her face, whether it was mirthful or piqued, at this moment even she was unsure. "Someone has to lead the Mist Village if I fall, you know."

The one-eyed jonin nodded. "If you fall, there won't be a Village to lead. With all due respect, Ms. Terumi, I'd just as soon make my stand here."

Technically, this was the height of insubordination yet Mei couldn't help but feel the man had a right to have a say about his own fate. As she looked again at the jonin, she saw over his shoulders the streets and rooftops beyond filling up with Kirigakure's ninja, not just the rank and file but scarred and crippled veterans too alongside baby-faced Martial School cadets.

"As you can see," said Ao with the semblance of a grin, "I'm not the only one moved by the power of your example. Technically, Inoue is our Mizukage but she's not here so, for the time being…you are."

Mei swallowed hard. On the one hand she felt immensely honored; on the other, she had hoped for a somewhat less public venue to unveil the true nature of her powers. Then again she hardly had cause to concern herself over such trivialities anymore. A victory would surely bring validation to her heritage just as defeat would mean certain death and the very probable annihilation of all who might bear witness.

"What do you see?" she asked at last, noting how dark the Mist Village skies had suddenly become. It wasn't helping her outlook.

The Captain focused on the slowly oncoming figure of Krishenay Rahaman. "Byakugan," he intoned as the veins around his black eye-patch pulsed to life, carrying blood and chakra to the Hyuuga eye beneath it which he'd taken as a prize in battle years ago. The mist-ninja scowled as he said: "One-hundred and eight hungry demons, just like before."

"Splendid," riposted the woman flatly, "anything we didn't know?"

Ao gave her a stoic look. "Their combined chakra is not to be believed."

"Huh," she scoffed and crossed her arms, "well, we'll see how much good it does them."

Tense moments followed as Lord Oku's former executioner paced ponderously forward.

"That's about the right range, isn't it?" commented Ao.

"I was thinking the same thing," Mei replied then concentrated on a series of hand seals, her fingers flying through the exacting motions. Drawing a deep breath, bellowing her chest, the kunoichi brought up the elemental powers of her kekkei-genkai. From the woman's full, roseate lips erupted a torrent of lava that arced heavily through the scorched air to strike the vessel for the 108 Demons squarely in the chest. Smoke blasted as the red-hot liquid rock bubbled and burned, melting Piazza Hirai's paving stones and nearby statuary into a boiling, volcanic cauldron.

Through the crowds behind her, a collective gasp went up – not just in awe of the power she commanded but the nature of it. That the well-regarded jonin had the blood-gift was a secret no longer.

Mei dabbed at her mouth delicately with the back of a slender wrist then smiled with grim satisfaction but it was short-lived.

"He's still up!" Ao warned her a moment before the looming form of Krishenay Rahaman came forth through the curtains of blaze and curling smoke, having been not so much as inconvenienced by the conflagration.

"Shit!" the kunoichi spat then tried again, this time with a blast of corrosive mist that ate away the stonework like so much cotton candy in a rainstorm.

Ao stiffened. He didn't have to say a word. The look on his face, the shocked murmurs rippling through the army of shinobi behind her in the streets and on the rooftops was more than enough.

"How can it be?" muttered Mei as a sinking feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. "How can anything withstand both my Lava AND Boil Release jutsus?" The woman looked up at the approaching monster as it shrugged off a well-aimed barrage of arrows and then a pair of Water Dragon jutsus offered by the audience with equal indifference.

The kunoichi felt faint, an attack of hopelessness like she'd never experienced before. For a moment it was as if she could see with Ao's stolen Byakugan; see all 108 Demons all grafted together, their minds and organs interconnected to form a single, perverse organism crammed up under the paper-shell disguise of Krishenay Rahaman's borrowed skin, gnashing and hungry. The vision faded before the hideously lifeless expression on the giant's face: dead but ravenous, glassy eyes that repudiated life.

"Steady, Mei," Captain Ao advised, gently buoying her.

The woman shut her eyes and tried to steel herself against the supernatural dread. Although Mei'd had some idea of what she was up against, she hadn't really believed that this would be her last stand; not really. Deep down, she'd been all but sure that the powers of her blood-gift would prevail as they almost always had before. Life was full of disappointments. Still, if this was the time to die, she might as well go out making a statement. Sometimes how you left life was even more important than how you lived it. "Sure," she answered coyly. "I was just warming up anyway."

The kunoichi gathered herself for a new plan of attack when suddenly she felt sick and leaden. Her vision flickered with specs and it felt hard to breathe. Every muscle tensed; every joint creaked under unseen pressure. Mei looked right, fearing that again she was succumbing to panic, but saw that Ao too was similarly stricken. The ninja looked again toward Rahaman to find the monsters in the shape of a man still plodding forward, coming on, a force unstoppable.

Something smacked close to her feet - a bird pulled from the sky, struggling, for whatever reason, unable to fly or even move. The ninja stared harder, mystified, as the hapless creature flattened out on the stone, pressing ever more heavily until its insides suddenly and explosively gushed out.

Mei gasped, startled, and the world whirled as she slammed into the pavement; the shockwave of impact rattling through her body. The jonin willed herself to stand but she couldn't. Even the act of raising a single finger took an agony of effort as the mist-ninja found it, along with the whole rest of her body, a prisoner of its own terrible weight crushing down. Her skin sagged, spreading away from her eyes and mouth. If not for her shinobi's chakra she'd have been dead already.

Pressure built in her chest, too heavy for her to draw breath, her ribs creaked as the blood pounded in her head. In a moment the structure of her body would give way and she'd be nothing more than a pool of gore, squashed flesh and broken bones just like that poor bird. Through the ringing in her ears she heard the distant suffering of her fellow shinobi, the crack of masonry giving way and knew she'd lost – not only her own life but those foolish enough to stand by her, all of Kirigakure.

Sparkles filled her dimming vision, her blood was too heavy for her failing heart to pump. The pavement around and under her started to crack and then - the weight lifted as if it'd been all in her mind! A breath of blessed air filled her lungs as her chest flexed back. Weak and trembling, Mei gulped and pushed herself up, leaning on her arm, then startled again. Standing there just a few paces away - a slender figure in a jade robe, an ANBU's zodiac mask concealing his face.

Midway across the square, The 108 Demon's had ceased their advance.

Mei stared hard at her apparent savior, mouth open in shock. "You," she stuttered, "y-you're Haku."

The teenager's masked visage turned towards her. "Probably not who you were expecting, I know." His voice was as lilting, low and girlish as the jonin half-remembered remembered from his time as Zabuza's Apprentice but it was different too, burdened, older, thoughtful.

"What are you doing here?" she seethed, her question thick with acrimony. "Have you come to finish what your Tsujita allies started?"

"The plague is not theirs. Lord Tsujita came to avenge the slaughter of his clan but, in the end, had a change of heart. His humanity stayed his hand where the Mist Village's failed to stay its. We were on our way out when your ANBU attacked."

Mei's expression soured. "What a lie. People are dying all over the city."

"Whatever they're dying from, it didn't come from the blood-gifted clans though you were meant to think so. I doubt it's plague at all but a poison tailored to mimic the toxic effects of a disease."

The jonin blinked at the unexpected, oddly speculative and contrived-sounding reply. "Ok, I'll bite." The woman advanced, playing along. "What exactly would be the point?"

"To provide a rationale for the reestablishment of the Mist Village in Wave Country under a new regime."

Mei blinked. A chuckle escaped her. "You expect me to believe a story like that? That - that's _beyond_ crazy."

Haku didn't seem at all phased by her incredulity and shrugged. "It depends on what you want; 'crazy' is a matter of perspective. But it doesn't matter if you believe me. You'll find out for yourself soon enough, assuming any of us survive. To answer your question though, I've…_we've_ come to stop the 108 Demons. Lord Hirai has empowered me with his clan's jutsu. Just about every extraordinary Mist Ninja there's ever been since even before the First Mizukage is within me but still we don't know if it will be enough." Haku turned to look at her, eyes undetectable through the black slits of his zodiac mask. "You'd better use this time to get out of here; get everyone clear of the city."

The woman's eyes narrowed as the strange feeling seeped through her that maybe this notorious young ninja was in earnest; that what he was saying could really be the full truth that had been eluding her since she'd been granted nominal command. "Well that's a fine idea but we can't do it," explained Mei, still wary, as she made her way to her feet. "Water Country's sent their armies to enforce a quarantine. We can't leave."

Haku's shoulders sagged as he looked off. "I see," he allowed in barely-contained dismay. "I suppose we'd better win then."

"You're serious, aren't you?" said Mei, looking at him anew. "You're really going to fight them."

The boy opened his arms in a resigned gesture. "It'd all be a bit anticlimactic if we didn't."

Mei gulped, struck by the determined fatalism in his voice. It was hard to believe it could be the same person from two years ago – a vacant-minded tool who served the whims of a monstrous, egomaniacal caveman like Zabuza Momochi. Could anyone really change that much?

Before the two, standing there with inhuman patience, Krishenay Rahaman awaited – a creature wrought by all the dark forces of the supernatural, brought forward by one man's fears. Behind them, Kirigakure's ninja, veterans, reserves and irregulars pulled themselves and each other from the half-crushed city.

"Haku," declared Mei at last on impulse, firmly and finally, "kick their ass."

The teenager nodded in faint appreciation, turned back to the 108 Demons then again toward Mei, his mask-hidden eyes looking the statuesque woman up and down.

"What?" she asked, puzzled, suddenly and uncharacteristically self-conscious.

"I just wanted to tell you," Haku began in a confiding tone with just a trace of good humor, "that dress is _amazing_."

* * *

**Lord Hirai**

"Hey, old man?" a shrill, raspy voice rattled in his deafened ears though the words themselves didn't quite connect. He felt fingers pry open his eyelid and the senior Councilor of Kirigakure found himself looking up suddenly into a giant, blue eyeball.

Stirring restlessly, Lord Hirai swatted the offending hand from his face. _How…how did you get loose! _he thought to ask but didn't as the thunder of an explosion and blinding white furnace-blast of heat reunited him with memories he'd thought he'd gotten past but could never truly forget – the horrors of war, fears he'd vowed once that he and his clan would never have to face again.

"Come ON, Hirai!" the yellow-haired jinchurriki boy, himself singed, his whisker-marked cheeks smudged with soot, shouted with concern as he huddled closely over him, offering his back against a rain of embers and black char. "We gotta get out of here!"

The old man looked up past the side of the blonde's head to find a curling billow of flame crashing toward them until another figure intervened. Hideo, that crass creation of Lord Nikai's water-style necromancy, waved his arm. The gesture sapped the white fire's strength at which the revenant at once waved his other arm, dousing what was left of the blaze with a crashing wave of summoned water.

"We - we're under attack," Hirai found himself babbling.

Naruto stared at him then blinked a moment before he waved an arm, shouting: "Have you lost it, Grampa?! Of _course_ we're under attack, we're getting wiped out!"

A flicker of movement behind the boy, and Kisshomaru thought he really _had_ lost it as a squad of Narutos rushed by, carrying with them wounded or unconscious bodies.

Though bewildered, Hirai grimaced and pushed himself to his feet, finding in the process that his neck and back, parts of his upper arms and lower legs were badly burned. The old man's unsteady feet caught against fragments of broken stone. Hirai lurched and fell against the parapet, his slowly-focusing eyes coming to rest at once to the grey ships gathered down below and the shinobi sailors on their wide decks clambering to reload for another barrage while in Castle Hirai, in those besieged islands spared so far from the conflagration, Hirai ninja wove their attack jutsu only to have them countered. Watery serpents twisted and thrashed against one another in a fierce dance of attack and defense, mists formed and were blown away, winds wrestled and, in the middle waters between the ships and the island's rocky shores, armies of water clones clashed.

"The Fire-Tongue Fleet," said Hirai with waxing clarity, his lower lip trembling with rage and hurt. "They…they're attacking me. They're attacking ME!" Mastering himself, the ninja lord clapped his hands together in a seal. "Water style: Water Monsters Jutsu," he uttered direly. Almost immediately the ships of the Fire-Tongue Fleet were beset as the waters of the sea on which they floated sprouted shapes that came alive to crawl, creep or slither up and over their steel bows. Vessels rocked as an aqueous kraken wrapped them with thick tentacles; their errant missiles jetting skyward.

"That's it!" crowed Naruto hopefully. "Yeah, get mad, old man! Fight back!"

The clan patriarch winced in annoyance at having this infant prisoner champion him. He searched through his vestments and produced a prayer wheel inscribed with the cryptic characters of Dao magic, small with a wooden handle and a weight on the end of a string. "People will die for this," he vowed with a hiss, his tone proof this was no idle threat. "Clans, entire nations!" The Councilor set the prayer wheel in motion with a flick of his wrist and began to chant. Almost at once, the skies turned gloomy with clouds as the sea began to darken and churn.

While the ships and their crews foundered in disarray, a-swarm with the ninja-lord's watery summons' and at the mercy of the hostile sea, the bottom of the world slowly fell away. The choppy waters went smooth as they spun, around and around, faster and faster in an inescapable vortex leading down into a pit of fathomless black.

The young leaf-ninja at the ancient shinobi's side was struck silent, his exuberance drained away as the Fire-Tongue Fleet spiraled around the steepening canyon walls of a whirlpool that could have swallowed a hundred villages, swallowing it and all the shinobi aboard down not to the bottom of the sea, surely, but someplace darker, colder and infinitely further down – into the inescapable depths of a hell of another world.

When the last of them had vanished completely, the old man stilled his prayer wheel and let his arm fall to his side. The bombardment had stopped, giving the sensation of eerie quiet for a time until the rushing breath of the still crackling flames, shouts and cries welled in its absence.

Staggering to the inner parapet, Lord Hirai looked out over the burning ruins of the castle that bore his name mute with emotions beyond bearing. White flames licked up the walls of the half-destroyed buildings and battlements that had been his clan's home and the seat of its power for generations, his bright gardens vanished under blankets of fire. In the midst of it all, through the yawning and closing gaps in the white flames and drifting black smoke – flickers of little, yellow-haired ninja, an _army_ of them, bearing his kin to safety, others warding the gnashing, alchemic flames with pitiful bucket-brigades, shovels, and water-soaked blankets, these shadow-clones vanishing in bursts of dispersing chakra where the fires overcame them.

The old ninja's lip trembled, he pinched his eyes shut to spare him the sight and looked away then, after a moment, turned back and said: "you there, jinchuuriki, and you, revenant."

Naruto, his face grim and tired, fists balled at his sides, and the stocky, pale Hideo looked toward him.

"Assist me in extinguishing the rest of these unnatural flames, continue to help my clan and you may have whatever you," he canted his head toward Hideo, "or your creator, wish."

Hideo nodded that he understood and leaped from the top of the castle wall down to the courtyard below.

"And you, young master," the elderly ninja intoned in a far-away voice, "what is it _you_ wish for most – for lands of your own, to be a daimyo with an army at your command, riches beyond the dreams of avarice, for a certain girl you fancy to fall in love with you, to fathom the greater mysteries of ninjutsu, to master that monster inside you and bring it to heel; what?"

The young ninja was silent for so long that the Councilor turned again to look.

"You meant what you told me before, didn't you?" Naruto answered at last, his voice ragged. The chakra he'd spent summoning and maintaining so many clones was taking its toll. "Haku's gone back to the Mist Village to fight a bunch of demons, to fight Krishenay Rahaman, right?"

Hirai nodded, his face gentler now in concession.

"_Send me there_, that's all I want," said Naruto in a half-growl then grinned. "All that other stuff I can handle myself!"

* * *

**Haku**

The teenager allowed himself a moment to marvel over how surprising life can be. Never would he have imagined being in the position he was in now with the fate of Kirigakure resting in his hands as he stood face to face (or face to abdomen) with the former Mizukage's emissary and executioner, Krishenay Rahaman who'd allowed his approach.

The 108 Demon's gesture was far from a courtesy. Haku could feel the tendrils of their awareness upon him, testing his defenses, gentle as fronds in a breeze, purposeful and probing as a dentist's pic while the Demon's Apprentice's own senses returned the scrutiny. To his consternation as well as all those inside him, the 108 Demons appeared impregnable.

"This is the third time we've met," rumbled whichever of the 108 Demons was given responsibility for their voice, "two times in Wave Country and then here now. It appears as if our destinies are tied. But you're different now, aren't you." Rahaman smiled knowingly. "First Mizukage is in you and others; a few who were with her when she fought us the first time."

"There are many more now," Haku pointed out.

It smiled again, a mechanical, perfunctory expression the same as before. "They will do you no good. We have learned to combine our powers in a new way. Just as a hive is greater than the sum of the individuals that comprise it, so are we, and greater than before by orders of magnitude."

"So you say."

"You know already that we will contend. What you don't know is that it will last only as long as we find you entertaining. You cannot possibly defeat us. We will feed on your substance, add your chakras to ours and that will be the end of all of you…and Kirigakure no Sato."

Haku grinned. He'd heard this sort of speech before – always bold declarations from those who thought themselves powerful enough to bend the future to their will. The shinobi world was full of them. Fate was rarely silenced so easily. "We see this means a lot to you," he quipped, deliberately coquettish. "No doubt you had a long time to think about it over the twenty years you were entombed in the prison Midori Hirai made for you. You should know that within me are forty-seven mist-shinobi, legends all of us but me. All together we've faced enemies many times stronger than you and prevailed," Haku prevaricated; his girlish voice low and level, on the off-chance this enemy could be impressed. "No doubt we will do so again."

This time, Rahaman didn't waste the effort to smile. "Shall we begin then?"

"As you wish."

* * *

_Thanks for reading! -J_


	30. House of Candlelight Part 4

_Hi, patient reader…very, very, very, VERY patient reader. Thanks for coming back, and profuse apologies for taking so long. It's been a combination of my life being crazy (borderline fucked-up) and me being lazy (not to mention easily-distracted, easily-discouraged), in all honesty about a 50/50 split. And after all this time, I wish I had something better to show for it than this poor and short offering but it kind of is what it is. I hope you enjoy it anyway and I'll try not to take so long for the next chapter._

_Thanks!_

_-Jono_

* * *

**Haku**

A telltale flicker of unholy quickening in those ravenous eyes, gateways to oblivion, warned Haku and the host of shinobi spirits within him what was coming. The young ninja floated back, barely in time, as the pavement where he'd been standing cratered explosively under forces unseen. Barely an instant behind, the towering form of Krishenay Rahaman, the vessel for 108 Demons, surged after him far faster than any living thing on earth had ever moved. Haku's chakra, wielded by forty-seven ninja-lords, answered. The teenager coiled his legs and sprang back with equal speed as if to meet the monsters head-on but then shifted his substance into wind and passed effortlessly around them. Once clear, he reformed and twisted mid-air, both hands dancing through seals for separate jutsu, marveling at his new powers and the enormity of the gift Lord Hirai had given him.

Claws of ice erupted from the pavement to seize Rahaman while, overhead, the sullen, pregnant clouds yielded their lightning, gathering it in a swelling cascade from the outermost edges of the horizon before sending it lancing down in a single, massive, blinding shaft. For an eternity, the coruscating energies pulsed and poured earthward like god's vengeance as if to pierce the heart of the world, the brightness of it erasing all existence into a tapestry of white until gradually, the hellish paroxysm spent, it thinned and faded away.

Rising from a protective crouch, Haku cast his gaze through the drifts of smoke and smoldering rubble, with them the stench of char and ozone. For having destroyed Piazza Hirai, as well as the buildings adjacent to it, he supposed Kirigakure would forgive him, especially since the spirit of the august woman for which it had been named resided within his slender frame. Yet as he and his ninja ghosts had expected, though a thick-walled castle could not have withstood a bolt like that with even a single stone left standing, their enemy remained unscathed.

And even while the last of the debris settled, with bits of rocks and stone, some of it fused into glass, falling with desultory staccato clicks and clacks over the battlefield, and the sight of the Mizukage's former emissary, Krishenay Rahaman, emerging, grinning ghastly through the fumes, Haku frowned and chided himself for having held even the faintest hope that this might end easily.

* * *

**Shikamaru**

The chunin sailed through space, feeling the warm air rush past his skin, thick with humidity. Bending his legs as the bough rushed up at him from the forest, Shikamaru landed on it adroitly then leaped again, using the power of his chakra to harness his momentum and send him hurtling on once again. Three bounds ahead of him, Kiba and Sakura lead the way, with Kiba keeping track of his ninja-hound Akamaru who raced parallel to them on the road beyond the timberline, following Naruto and Haku's scent. Chouji, an equal measure behind, brought up the rear.

No one living in those grey and fog-shrouded little shoreline fishing villages would pay much attention to a little puppy, Shikamaru supposed, allowing the four leaf-ninjas to remain well out of sight as they travelled concealed by the woods.

As leader, the black-haired shinobi couldn't help but note the good order in which they made their way and that the team was both disciplined (at the moment, anyway) and motivated. In the world of military strategy these were very good things. But he also couldn't help but note the way Kiba had kind of taken over, leading (if you could call it that) through sheer blind impetuousness, not exactly in a mutinous way but not shying from it either.

Shikamaru frowned in something like exasperation. Of course, Kiba didn't mean anything personal. He was only trying to accomplish the mission the way he thought best, and he wasn't the type to wait around, weigh options, discuss or explain things at much length even under normal circumstances. This time however, there seemed to be something more in play, something else brewing inside that shaggy-haired head.

When he thought about it, it had been clear enough from their very first conversation about rescuing Naruto the depth of Kiba's commitment. Only now did Shikamaru wonder if maybe that commitment might be _too_ deep, making the genin act even more rashly and impulsively than usual.

Wincing, the chunin supposed he ought to be grateful. Without Kiba's quick action, ill-conceived as it was, they'd all still be on that ship, headed back to the Land of Waves and miles away from being in a position to even think about rescuing Naruto let alone hot on the wayward ninja's trail.

_Jealous?_ he could hear his teammate, Ino's pointed, teasing voice prod, sharp as a skewer.

_No,_ Shikamaru answered, rolling his eyes tiredly at the idea.

He'd never been jealous of Kiba or anyone really in his whole life. Besides, the days of childish, individual competition were officially over with as of the chunin exams. _Real_ ninja responsible enough to go on important missions knew that success depended on teamwork. So if one member is stronger then it makes the whole team stronger.

Ino again:_ So I guess you're __admitting__ that Kiba's stronger than you?_

Shikamaru frowned at this troublesome tack his mind was taking. _I told you, it doesn't matter,_ he answered._ But every team has to be organized, especially ours, because if we're not, there's no way we'll make it back -._

The leaf-ninja's troublesome ruminations were brought to end as he suddenly sensed…something. What it was, Shikamaru wasn't entirely sure but he found himself looking off through the woods at his right. The others felt it too and dropped out the treetops one after another to pause.

"What IS that?" Sakura was the first to say against the arboreal quiet.

All four stared.

"Chakra," noted Kiba with a wary scowl, one pointed incisor bared. "The pressure's really intense too, weird. It's like there's only two but at the same time way more than two, both bigger than anything I've ever felt before and…and there's something not right about them, either of them."

Chouji grumbled, pointing out: "It's coming from the direction of Kirigakure."

Through the densely-leafed canopies the foursome could see the breaks widening in the mantle of clouds over the distant city, the winds swirling in strange patterns. Without warning, the leaden cloudscape came alive. Across the sky's vast hemisphere, blinding crackles of lightning shuddered across the gray, its fiery web-work surging together into one titanic shaft that, in the blink of an eye, struck down into the Hidden Mist Village. A boom of thunder sounded, shattering the quiet and shaking the earth with its primal, elemental roar, bowing the trees as if heralding the end of the world.

When, at last, the harsh light and the last of the reverberations had faded, the four young ninjas peeled their arms from around their heads, shook off the dusting of fallen leaves and twigs that had dropped over them then straightened hesitantly.

"W-what," gulped Chouji, wide-eyed in shock, "what the hell was THAT?"

"Jutsu," answered his friend in a measured tone. "It has to be. There's no way that was a natural event."

Sakura looked back and forth between them and wrung her fingers worriedly. "This couldn't," she began, "I mean, this _couldn't_ have anything to do with Naruto, could it?"

Shikamaru frowned and crossed his arms. "Can't exactly say I'd be surprised. You?" he asked his team, remembering that Mari had warned them about an alliance of ninja clans planning revenge against the Mist Village; the crux of Naruto and Haku's mission – to stop them. That you'd find Naruto in the thick of it, where he always seemed to be, would make _perfect_ sense.

The shinobi all returned knowing looks.

"Right," Shikamaru acknowledged. "Regardless, we'd better get going. The trail's not getting any fresher and we've still got a division of Water Country marines barely three hours behind us."

Kiba nodded gravely and at once leaped off, back into the trees to catch up with Akamaru. One after the other, the remaining leaf-ninjas followed after him.

As Shikamaru took his position he took a last, long look toward Kirigakure. Memories of another mission, a similar mission with a similar objective chilled him, and it hadn't been that long ago. Then, like now, he really hadn't had much idea of what he was getting into.

_Naruto. Haku. Blood-gifted ninja clans,_ he thought, _Water Country mounting an invasion. None of this is looking good._

* * *

Akamaru lead the team further inland through a patch of dank, low-lying forest, past a long-abandoned farmhouse to a crumbling barn overgrown with tangled vines. There he stopped at the stone remains of an equally long-abandoned well. The puppy circled it warily, sniffing all the while, then barked.

"Naruto…fell down a well?" Sakura supposed uncertainly once the whole team had gathered.

Kiba's face turned puzzled. The ninja backed up a few steps and took a sniff for himself. "It's Naruto and Haku for sure. They had lunch here," he reported, then followed his nose back to the well's uninviting opening and peered into its murky depths. "And then they went down."

Chouji leaned over the opening from the other side and looked into the black, a doubtful expression on his pudgy face. "Are you sure, Kiba? Maybe you're smelling things, like a…a smell hallucination or something."

"Look," Kiba argued, faltering only slightly, "I know what it looks like but I'm TELLING you they went DOWN!"

Shikamaru looked back and forth between the two. "It's not as if we have anything else to go on. Chouji, grab my feet; I'll take a look."

The bigger ninja looked at his friend, mildly surprised, but then gave a shrug as Shikamaru took out a flashlight from his pack and positioned himself on the lip of the well. Clearly despite his better judgment, Chouji took hold of Shikamaru's ankles with his strong, chakra-enhanced grip and lowered him down. After just a few seconds, the chunin's searching beam settled on something out of sight and he called up: "It's ok, Chouji, let go."

"Are you sure?" Chouji squawked in answer then, when his leader confirmed, complied.

As the chunin dropped from sight, the three ninjas and Akamaru listened for the crash of a splash then, when they didn't hear anything, looked and found Shikamaru's disembodied arm waving up at them from the darkness. "Come on, guys, it's ok," his laconic voice echoed, "there's a passage down here."

Soon after, the foursome found themselves threading along a tunnel of stone with Kiba and Akamaru again following Naruto and Haku's trail.

With his face awash in the flashlight's reflected glow, Shikamaru decided he'd been wrong to harbor any misgivings about Kiba. Without a doubt it was high time his classmate explored what he was really capable of. Reflexively, the chunin couldn't help but glance away, knowing that the assertion might apply equally to himself.

Considering that they were about to enter the Village Hidden in the Mist, a Kiba significantly stronger than he'd ever been before was probably a good thing to have on his side.

_I'll just have to keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't get carried away. A dog is a __pack__ animal after all; I'll just have to remind him. _A cagey smile crossed his face. _He's just worried about Naruto and I guess I can't blame him. We all are…and not just 'cause Tsunade says he's important._

Looking down the tunnel into the black ahead he couldn't help but remember the strange yellow-headed ninja's crazy smile and crazier antics. _We'll get you back, Naruto,_ he half-promised, half-thought.

_And you too, Haku, why not? _Shikamaru added, remembering his promise to Mari, _even if I don't really know you._

_As hard as we all tried to get Sasuke back, we failed; me most of all. Whatever comes our way this time, I can't let that happen again, no matter what._

His lips slanted. _So many less troublesome professions in the world…._

* * *

**Haku**

The Demon's Apprentice's hands flew through a series of seals as Rahaman counterattacked. Around and behind the ANBU-masked teenager, a city block extant since the dawn of the Mist Village evaporated under the power of the 108 Demon's chakra but the young shinobi had sidestepped, putting years of time and miles of space between them. There now in the middle of the ocean, far from where anyone might find themselves caught up in their struggle, his adversary was upon him in an instant.

Massive hands, within them almost unlimited supernatural power, closed around Haku's neck only to find empty air. Floating back atop the waves, the young ninja's hand shot forward, sending forth a tear though existence itself. Powerful as the jutsu was, Rahaman barely even had to counter and smothered the attack with the merest shrug of the terrible energy the monsters inside him commanded. The ocean waters below churned and boiled under the force, bowing out clear down to the silted floor, fathoms beneath where the two fought.

With the hem of his jade robe whipping in the wind, Haku circled, skirting the frothing pit, and called forth lightning which flashed in crackling fury, vanishing from sight at times to attack their target through dimensions unseen as they lashed at the 108 Demons but still Rahaman's defenses remained impregnable.

Tendrils of water and chakra, living extensions of the demons' corrupting will, erupted from the water, coiling and snapping after Haku, snaring his limbs despite his unearthly speed. Pain burned through the young shinobi as the tendrils latched on to feed on his chakra until the teenager's kekkei-genkai freed him. In an instant, the watery serpents froze to brittle ice and shattered as Haku burst free only to find himself pressed back as Rahaman leaped at him. Evading once again, The Demon's Apprentice battered the giant with tsunami-force waves then trapped it within glaciers harder than steel, cold as the depths of space. It only held for a moment before cracks appeared and the mountains of ice flew apart in an eruption of titanic shards.

Having used the time to prepare, Haku sent forth an onslaught – a vast army of summoned monsters, yokai and kaiju that owed blood allegiance to the ninja lord spirits within him yet, despite the sum of their efforts, the lone ninja and his host were again forced to flee.

Over a barren landscape a thousand years before they'd first confront each other in Kirigakure, the monstrous form of Krishenay Rahaman hunted Haku. Though the boy possessed jutsu undreamed of by any ninja living, one after another, they failed him. Taijutsu, even at his level, was impossible against an inhuman enemy whose defenses remained supernaturally adamant, genjutsu hopeless against one-hundred and eight minds all linked together in gestalt, ninjutsu, the manipulation of nature itself, useless against creatures whose unified power dwarfed anything ever seen in nature.

Across centuries of time they fought, their battle spanning continents; Rahaman pressing, Haku evading until finally, the elusive Demon's Apprentice found himself at last, hopelessly compassed. By and by, the demons had replicated themselves, overlapping their existences until their numbers were nearly infinite, enough to surround their quarry in space and even time – those foothills and shallows of time within the teenager's ability to negotiate. Rahaman had been sure, over the course of countless exchanges, to test and map the ninja's limits.

_Of course,_ Haku and his ninja spirits apprehended grimly. It only made sense that, having resorted to the same hit-and-run tactic so many times that Rahaman, the Mizukage's former emissary and executioner, would find a way to counter it.

Effectively penned, shafts of the 108 Demons will lanced now at Haku from every angle, attacking from dimensions that could not be measured with bolts of pure dissolution. Zabuza's apprentice settled into a wary calm, letting his reactions flow naturally, transforming or maneuvering his body away from each oncoming thrust as they came until, inevitably, one found him, appearing out of the ether, too quickly to avoid. In carefully suppressed dismay, Haku watched as his clothing, the senbon beneath it, skin, muscle, bone, blood and organs across the left side of his chest burst open and went streaming off into space. Even with the control and discipline of four dozen ninja-lords and heroes buoying him, he could hardly contain the wrenching pain and purest shock that coursed now through his body – an excruciation beyond measure, dwarfing anything in his experience, rendering even the burning agonies of Kakashi's chidori to insignificance.

Beneath his ANBU mask, Haku grit his teeth as he fought to limit the disruption of his chakra network, the flow of natural and supernatural energies that kept Lord Hirai's jutsu in place, that gave him any chance at all of prevailing…or even of surviving another instant.

Abandoning all other jutsu to save that one, time and space snapped suddenly as the tethers he'd left, that anchored him back to Kirigakure, pulled him. As he went, another desperate, one-handed seal called out to his dissipating substance and Haku had to turn away from the nauseating spectacle as the rent fabric of his body pulled and knitted back together.

Appearing once again in the Hidden Mist Village, the ninja spun wildly over the still-smoking wreckage of Hirai Plaza, struck hard and went pin-wheeling limply over lightning-scorched and melted ruins. Pushing himself up, he teetered once and peered through the slits of his ANBU mask, knowing that Rahaman would be right there.

The monster masquerading as a man, terrible as any giant or ogre from folklore, and standing barely a stone's throw away, bellowed in the full, unrestrained ecstasy of their magnificent, unchallengeable power, the 108 Demons' triumph, and reached out demonstratively with their chakra, the fingers of which brushed the stratosphere.

Haku, barely able to stand, quieted his mind, open to any ideas from his inhabitants, mist-ninja legends all, but nothing came, nothing but a single thought that seeped through them like cold water through sand - was he, were they really ALL, beaten?

"An entertaining match," rumbled Rahaman as he approached, within him legions, "but we've taken the measure of you; you have nothing left to offer."

The cessation of motion, the sudden quiet of the battlefield - this doomed city of Kirigakure - closed around the Demon's Apprentice like a fist. In this silence, the teenager's heart thudded in his chest.

"You're right," Haku was forced to agree though he still could hardly believe it had come to this as the words drifted past his lips. "We surrender."

* * *

**Naruto**

The blond ninja startled awake with the unbearable stench of sulfur flooding his nostrils. "EEAUGH!" he squawked, arms and legs flailing, then glared at the medical ninja hovering over him.

The squinty-eyed man leaned back, capped a glass vial with a smart flourish and returned it to its proper place in his medical kit.

"What was THAT?!"

"Smelling salts," he explained mildly. "You passed out."

Naruto sat up, propping himself on an elbow, and looked around dazedly at where he now found himself – a long, drab-colored tent with cots lined up along each wall and an aisle running down the center. From each of the pallets, Hirai-clan children, by their appearance, brothers, sisters and cousins of various ages sat or lay, most of them bandaged though none appeared really seriously hurt. Many looked back at him in wonder, gawking and pointing as they noticed the blond boy's awakening.

As the lingering smelling salts cleared the leaf-ninja's nose, a gentler stink of antiseptics and aged canvas seeped in to replace it, punctuated by the sharper acridity of smoke. The boy grimaced as he remembered the attack on Castle Hirai.

Hideo, that weird guy who'd been Lord Tsujita's bodyguard and who'd rescued him from whatever it was Grandpa Hirai had done to him, stood nearby, staring somberly into space along with another mist-ninja who waited with arms folded. Naruto rubbed his head as the initial jolt of his return to consciousness faded. "How long have I been out?" the boy asked seriously, his voice slow and raspy.

"Take it easy…about fifteen minutes," the caretaker explained. "All those shadow clones you summoned sucked your chakra dry." The medical ninja looked up at his ward full of children, many of them still alive thanks to the young leaf-ninja's efforts. "Thank you, by the way."

The genin grinned awkwardly at the unexpected praise but then his expression shifted sharply as he remembered and Naruto grabbed the medic's sleeve. "Hey, listen, I got to GO! I -!"

"Relax, would you?" the medic countered then frowned. "You really ought to get some rest and if was up to me you would, even if I had to have you strapped between two cots, but for some reason Lord Hirai wants you outta here. The sooner the better is what he said."

"I…he does?" Naruto blinked in astonishment. For some inexplicable reason, the idea that the man who'd gone to some lengths to imprison him was no longer interested stung slightly. The young ninja crossed his arms. "Oh…well," he granted, "ok then."

The medic handed him a cup of water and a pill.

Naruto regarded these skeptically. "What's this?"

"A cup of water and a pill," said the man with a smirk that faded under the boy's sour look. "No sense of humor, huh? THAT," he explained, "is a 'Hei Lung' or Black Dragon which is a compressed herbal and mineral compound often used as a soldier pill. It'll give you a good chakra boost but not for free. You'll crash later." The medic gathered his gear and made to rise. "You're not planning on operating any heavy machinery, are you?"

The blonde gave him a blank, blue-eyed look.

"Riiiiiight," the doctor remarked while Naruto gulped the pill down, then he cocked his head toward the awaiting sentry. "If you're feeling more-or-less ok now you're supposed to go with this guy."

Naruto looked up at the strange ninja. "What for?"

The expression on the medic's face before he left answered him: _'what, you expect me to know everything?'_

Less than half an hour later, Naruto marched after his guide who led him into the still-smoldering ruins of one of Castle Hirai's courtyards. The boy chafed in his new vestments, feeling a bit uncomfortable in the blue and grey mist-ninja fatigues, minus the hitai-ate but complete with a high-collared armored vest, the mist-ninja had given him along with a full panoply of arms and gear that hung somewhat heavily on his shoulders and clung tightly to his waist. This wasn't the first time he'd had to wear an outfit like this but the genin missed the roomy and well broken-in orange jacket he was accustomed to…and his neck itched like crazy!

Hideo, silent as always, followed a pace or two behind.

In a far corner of the courtyard left miraculously untouched by the devastation, where the grass was still green and the flower beds still colorful with blooms, Lord Hirai, the Councilor of Kirigakure himself had set up a makeshift command post – an informal arrangement of simple tables and chairs set up atop a broad swath of overlapping rugs that had been rolled out over the grass.

Though the man seemed as strong and stern as ever, still very much in command, he had lost something of his former composure. His always-perfect mantle of impeccably-coiffed silver hair was slightly mussed now with strands out of place, telltale smudges of soot stained his fine clothes and his skin was patched here and there with crisp, white bandages and the oily gleam of freshly-applied unguents. More than that, there was something else more elusive and harder to explain - like an actor who'd slipped out of character.

The ninja-lord looked up and a wry grin creased his aged face. "Mr. Uzumaki," he greeted the yellow-haired teenager, "you look positively respectable." Even his tone had changed somewhat: still depreciating but less harsh, more winsome.

A boyish retort came at once to his lips but Naruto bit down on it.

"Ah, yes," Hirai read his mind but answered with a philosophical air, "I suppose it goes without saying what I look like."

There was kind of a lot Naruto wanted to say, to express, to ask, but words failed him. What could you say to someone whose home had been attacked, scores of his family killed, especially when your relationship was, at best, ambiguous? Cutting through the awkwardness of the moment, the young ninja settled on the one thing he didn't have to think about: "Are you gonna send me to Kirigakure like you said?" he asked with a scowl.

"Of course," the ninja-lord replied quickly, casually, then cast a discreet look toward the position of the sun. "You have to save your friend, Haku, don't you? If there's anything left of him to save," he offered with an equally careless cruelty then raised his hand to quiet Naruto's immediate objection. "Forgive me, I shouldn't have said that. Today's a day for surprises after all; perhaps he'll surprise me too. You're fire, he's ice, but you're both _full_ of surprises." Lord Kisshomaru Hirai went to one of the tables, picked up an official-looking document and handed it to Naruto. "I only know bits and pieces of what's going on in my Mist Village," the near-centenarian explained simply. "These are travel papers. As long as any order still holds there these documents, bearing my seal and signature, will ensure your safe passage. You need only present them."

The teenager blinked at the old man's continuing generosity and tried not to be suspicious. "I…uh, thanks."

A strange, faint music rose just then and Naruto had to squint and look around a bit before he could discern the source. A bell, about the size of a teacup, that hung from a broken stanchion had begun to chime…all by itself. The boy looked up then at Lord Hirai in puzzlement only to find the patriarch staring at the bell with a grave expression on his face. Turning back to Naruto, he smiled tightly. "You should go. Follow me."

The young ninja fell in beside the old man as he started to walk, moving quickly to match the taller Hirai's brisk, long-legged strides, as they headed, apparently, toward an ornate fountain at the opposite corner of the courtyard.

"I'm sorry," Naruto blurted at last.

"Hmm?"

"For all this," he explained in an awkward but sincere sadness, gesturing at the destruction, "your castle and everything. I…a lot of people got hurt."

Hirai leveled an inscrutable glance down at him. "Thank you, young master. I appreciate your kind sentiments. Yes, this has been…quite a shock for me," he acknowledged, his voice begrudging and hesitant. "For my part I suppose I should have known better than to allow myself to become so complacent, so _attached_ to a place, even if it is my home, or so fond of its people even though they are my flesh and blood."

Naruto stared for a moment, unsure he'd really heard the old man right. "W-what do you mean?"

The ninja sighed. "A great master of politics once said that it's best to inflict all your hurts at once so as to shock the object of your strategy into inaction and thereby achieve victory. I always thought that was sound wisdom and have practiced it myself…more than once. Now that I find myself on the receiving end of the tactic, I have a greater appreciation for the truth of it. Don't misunderstand me; I have no doubt whatsoever that it was not I for who this shock was intended, but Kirigakure itself. No, the Hirai Clan was clearly supposed to be annihilated as a component to a much larger plan. My adversary struck without warning and with a ruthlessness I, sadly, had not anticipated." The old man crackled with a caustic laugh. "For that, and being able to keep an operation of this magnitude from the attention of my spies, I can't help but be impressed. If the particulars were not what they were, I'd say she was to be congratulated."

"Wait…wait," said Naruto, goggle-eyed, "what are you saying? There was some _reason_ for someone to do…to do all THIS, that makes it OK?!"

"'Ok' is a very subjective term but, my own personal feelings aside – of course. It's nothing I wouldn't do, nothing I haven't done before whether pursing personal vendettas in my younger days or the interests of the state in my later ones." He looked down at the young shinobi and gave him a charitable smile. "The ninja world is full of plots, intrigues, treasons and betrayals. War and slaughter are tools of our trade and there's no changing it. You will understand this one day," he raised a silver eyebrow then mused, "should you live so long."

The boy's jaw tightened instinctively, his fists balled.

"He's right, you know," intoned Hideo, his first words in quite a while. "My own clan, the Oda, were killed by the Mist Village in its earliest days. Their masters of the Water Style destroyed dams, changed the courses of rivers and drowned us all one night in our sleep. Why? – I don't know to this day but it hardly matters anymore. What's done is done." His eyes swiveled slowly toward Lord Hirai. "Unlike Lord Aramata's friend, I feel no pity at all for your or your clan. For yours to die by fire as mine did by water seems only natural, an expression of karma. If I still had the will of a living man I would not have helped you."

The young leaf-ninja shivered at Hideo's words, realizing only now what he truly was.

Hirai nodded. "It's a ghastly jutsu your master knows, to bring back the dead and all their grudges," he replied, his lip wrinkling slightly with distaste, but then added pointedly, "but I meant what I said."

"I will faithfully deliver your offer," said Hideo, turning his face to the way ahead. "I can do nothing else."

Naruto's yellow brows knitted. "Maybe this is your world," he muttered, "but it's not mine."

That sure smile returned to Lord Hirai's face. "Ha, no I'm sure it's not. But what do you think will happen when the world you prefer, the one that exists only within the confines of that blond head, collides with _our_ reality?"

"Mine will win! And yours will change!" the young ninja snarled with clumsy ferocity then continued more softly but no less surely, "I know it will. It HAS to. I mean - who wants to live in a world like this, full of-of…death and smoke?"

Both the ninja-lord and the revenant looked down at the boy.

"You're very nearly charming…in your own way, young master," Hirai seemed to admit, though it was hard to tell. Before Naruto could make up his mind either way, the Councilor began again: "Because of the service you've done for me and for my clan, I had a thought to disabuse you of your illusions, to spare you the pain of finding out for yourself but never mind.

"Go on then," he said in farewell, gesturing at the fountain as they arrived at its wide, oval-shaped basin. "All you need do is jump in. My Mirror Gate jutsu will transport you to Kirigakure the same way I transported you and Haku here."

Naruto grimaced at being dismissed like this, 'bum-rushed' from a place he hadn't ever wanted to come to in the first place, but still stepped up onto the rim of the fountain with Hideo following suit and taking a place beside him. Hirai concentrated a moment, performed a series of seals, turned and began to walk away.

The genin looked down as the water in front of him darkened under the ninja-lord's spell.

"Hey, Grampa Hirai," Naruto called out suddenly and sharply to the Councilor's back, "if you really think I'm wrong then how come you're just letting me go? I mean, you…you _know_ about me, right?" The blonde felt his throat tighten around the words as he alluded to something he'd never told anyone, that he'd only ever even touched on in the vaguest of terms with those very few he trusted most.

The Hirai patriarch paused but said nothing.

"_Huh?!"_ Naruto prompted then waited, wondering in the tense silence that ensued if he'd gone too far.

"Are you going to stand there all day," answered Lord Hirai at last without turning, "or are you going to go save your friend?"

The young ninja dropped his gaze, unsure as usual at what the old man meant, turned back to the fountain then stepped off the rim of the basin into the pool. This time, he wasn't surprised in the least to find that water fathoms deep, its unknowable currents bearing him, he knew, right to Kirigakure.

* * *

**Haku**

**It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles…**

_Sun Tzu – The Art of War_

Shock rippled through the minds, spirits and chakra energies of the forty-seven ninja who shared Haku as the girlish teenager slipped off his zodiac mask and looked up into Rahaman's leering, grisly visage. The one-hundred and eight fleshes under that dead, stretched skin rippled with anticipation at the bounty they were about to receive.

Zabuza's former student canted his head and offered his porcelain neck, cool and flawless white on the surface with just a hint of the warmth and pulse of fragile life beneath. "Which of you will dine first?" he asked with a vulnerable smile.

A cheap tactic. Unforgivable really. The purpose of Haku's innocent-seeming query was transparent even to them and yet, though the 108 Demons had combined their bodies and minds in ways so thoroughly, so revoltingly intimately as to be unfathomable to the human mind, it had changed nothing at all about what they were at their cores – creatures of unholy, unappeasable appetite…and selfish. For an infinitesimal fraction of a second, the godlike power they'd fashioned for themselves faltered before temptation, separated them into one-hundred and eight distinct desires. It passed so quickly that it shouldn't have mattered. It passed so quickly that it wouldn't have, but the powers of the Hirai Clan's secret jutsu, though shaken, remained and so, for the present, within the borders of that infinitesimal fraction of a second spread, for Haku, an ocean of time and opportunity.

A smirk flashed as he pulled back his hand, fingers bladed, then struck. Like the sword of the divine, Haku's hand passed effortlessly through Ramahan's momentarily-disordered defenses, dead, decades-old skin, through armor, ichor, chitin, hide, shell, scale, hair, bone and flesh of the creatures within to wrap around the heart of the demon whose dedicated function served as the collective organism's spleen. The ninja crushed it to jelly then tore it free.

Spinning away to avoid any reflexive counterattacks, Haku's free hand worked through a series of seals to summon hundreds of carnivorous fish which swam in the air then vanished as they tracked the dead demon's fleeing energies through neighboring dimensions, across time and space then devoured them. For this one anyway, there would be no possibility for renewal.

With a gory rupture in its leather skin, the Mizukage's former emissary stood stock still for a moment then quivered. After another moment, the vessel shook, swelling and bubbling until, at last, that skin tore apart, disgorging its contents – a vast and unearthly horde of hellish monsters, fiends and shapes seen only in nightmares and never ever in the light of day.

Haku's face spread into a smile as he set his ANBU mask back into place. The fingers of both hands closed then around swords of ice that formed out of the air, each the length and breadth of his late master's famed zanbato. A relieved laugh escaped him, a laugh that echoed in his mind in forty-seven different tones and timbres raised in celebration.

"Well," he quipped, "I guess it's one-hundred and _seven_ now…isn't it?"

* * *

**Yashako**

Her captor gasped suddenly. The crippled, battle-scarred man's bulbous head canted back, his sightless eyes wide and gazing heavenward up into the lacquered beams of the quasi-phantasmal Coral Pavilion.

For a moment, quite unintended, Yashako felt a vestigial pang of concern for her former sensei. "Hey," she offered despite herself as she sat up, "are you alright? You're not strokin' out on me, are you?"

"He's…he's done it," 'The Manatee' muttered, hollowed by shock, his thick, stubby hands clutching at his cheeks, "the impossible."

The woman rolled her eyes sullenly. "NOW what are you babbling about?"

"He's done it. He's won. Haku is going to destroy the 108 Demons. I can see it: Kirigakure has a chance, broad, bright rivers of possibility outflowing from the present moment."

The kunoichi settled back, her muscle-clad shoulder blades coming to rest against one of the pavilions stout, orange columns. "So the string bean won, huh?" she offered snidely, "big fucking deal. Nothin' to cream your jeans over."

"Don't you understand?!" 'The Manatee' remonstrated as if she'd blasphemed against all that was holy. "For him to overcome a power like the 108 Demons was _virtually impossible_. Kirigakure was going to be destroyed_; I saw it destroyed!"_

The woman's face congealed with anger. "Sensei!" she barked, flinging her arm, "I know you got all these _mystical powers_ and shit but you know what – you're a fucking idiot. Of course Kirigakure's gonna be destroyed if nobody even tries to save it; EVERYTHING'S impossible if nobody even fucking tries. That's why apathy is the greatest treason. You're a goddam jonin and you don't know THAT?" Yashako started to laugh, not cruelly but easily, and not at him but at herself. The sounds of it rolled and gonged through her pavilion prison. "You know, for a minute there – for a MINUTE – I actually bought into your bullshit: _'oh, we're all gonna die,'_ she piped in a cartoon's voice, clutching imaginary pearls, _'it's hopeless and there's nothing anyone can do!'_ And to think – I came to YOU for answers, HA! Kissame must'a cut off more than just your legs. Well, guess what – I'm going," she announced curtly then rose, collecting her twin ghost-head broadswords as she did. "I'm going to do what I should've done in the first place: my job, my duty! ME…not the Demon of the fucking Mist's fucking concubine! You wanna stop me – fine! Just kill me…please. Every second I stay here's a disgrace."

"Yashako?" said 'the Manatee' as the man's former student strode to the low railing beyond which the mirror-moat waters of the Choral Pavilion waited, the Mist Village on the opposite shore.

The swordswoman paused long enough to snarl: _"What?"_

For a moment, her former sensei seemed daunted by the question. "Be careful," he said softly at last. "Maybe I don't know everything after all, but I know this - it gets much worse before it gets better…no matter what The Demon's Apprentice has accomplished."

* * *

_Thanks for reading!_


	31. House of Candlelight Part 5

Hi, and welcome back!

* * *

**Udon**

As the rest of the children, many nursing scuffs and bruises from earlier contests, looked on, a cadet with a shaved head and a wide, cocksure grin rose from the edge of the practice area and took his position upon the raked ground. Just a few paces away, a taller, somewhat bony girl in braids did the same. With a faint wind blowing, the two faced each other, drew their right hands to the centers of their chests with the first two fingers raised and coupled as Iruka-sensei, fairly towering over both students, raised his arm toward the clear sky and held it there a moment before he dropped it sharply and announced for them to begin. The young combatants at once took fighting stances and approached each other – the boy striding, the girl creeping with cautious diffidence.

From where he watched on the sidelines, Udon swallowed uncomfortably at the continuing spectacle. Konohamaru, sitting just next to him, rippled with unabashed excitement while Moegi, at Konohamaru's other side, observed tensely with hands knotted at her chin.

"Fights generally go to those who seize the initiative," whispered Ebisu-sensei, Konohamaru's tutor, from close behind them where he'd been offering his insights on the action. "You can't expect to win from a defensive posture."

The chestnut-haired boy's heart sank as he adjusted his round glasses then dabbed woefully at his perpetually runny nose. There were few parts of the ninja curriculum he seemed to have a reasonable aptitude for but taijutsu was _not_ one of them. Even the little bits of playful sparring he'd done with Konohamaru and Moegi seemed daunting, revealed just how uncoordinated he actually was and, more than that, his almost total lack of what Ebisu-sensei termed "Martial Spirit."

_I'm just not good at this kind of thing…_he moaned to himself, his expression settling into a sad, slanting frown.

As Udon watched, the first cadet shot forward. His fists battered his opponent's upraised arms, making her stumble and almost fall. For long moments, the aspiring kunoichi seemed all but beaten until she got her feet under her and fired back with a quick jab that broke the shorter, stronger cadet's rhythm.

"Movement, positioning - those are your most powerful weapons," offered the pale jonin in his cool, analytical tone. "Maneuvering yourself to the right position and controlling the distance puts you in place to perform your techniques while avoiding your enemy's."

The boy came on again with a combination that the girl ducked under and sidestepped before she lashed him with a thudding shin that caught the cadet low and hard just above the hips. The blow knocked the wind from him and nearly folded him over; the boy's scudding feet scraped the soft earth.

The mostly disciplined class came alive then with a mixed chorus of commentary and appreciative chuckling. Udon grimaced in sympathy as if he'd been hit as well.

"A foul in sport kick-boxing," observed Konohamaru's teacher drily behind mirror-black, thin-framed spectacles. "Of course, this isn't kick-boxing."

Undeterred and with his smile swapped for a tense scowl, the cadet struggled on, punched then offered a kick of his own.

"Two things here," Ebisu cautioned at once, "never attack when you're not prepared; never repeat an attack your opponent has just executed. Those are common bad habits."

The kunoichi, gliding much more confidently now, chambered her leg to kick again at which the boy startled and dropped both hands to intercept. Thus committed, he was caught quite off guard when the girl pivoted sharply to deliver the blow high to his head instead with a percussive _crack_ that made the whole assembly wince. The cadet went rigid then crumbled face-first into the ground to a soundtrack of groans and cheers.

"And of course, you always have to watch for the feint."

Feeling slightly sick and hoping, since all members of the class had had their turn, that this lesson was finally over and they could go home, Udon turned to Konohamaru who turned to him at the same time with a bright smile fierce on his face.

"Did you SEE that, Udon?!" Konohamaru piped, almost beside himself with excitement, color rising in his cheeks, eyes glittering. "That was so awesome! I can't wait 'till I'M a cadet."

Udon managed a wan grin - about the best he could do.

Although he too wanted to be a ninja like his friends (exactly _why_ he couldn't say), the idea of combat had never particularly enthused him. His first taste of it, such as it had been, had only confirmed his attitude.

Thinking back, Konohamaru had been SO sure about Chuuya and Inari - that they were ruthless enemy ninja, that they'd done something truly terrible to poor Naruto. His friend's unwavering uncertainly and insistence had been enough to convince him and Moegi which, really, was pretty much the way it always went since he was kind of their leader and everything. When the three of them had burst in on the pair from Wave Country, Udon really hadn't understood what he was in for, really hadn't understood what he was getting into until Konohamaru _fell_. To see that, to feel the sickening sensation it'd brought - like being hollowed out - was something he could never forget.

In hindsight, Konohamaru thought it was absolutely, belly-clutchingly hilarious that he'd been so wrong about the two strangers, attacked them for no reason and gotten bashed in the head with a skillet for the trouble. _'Hey! At least it wasn't a HOT skillet!'_ he'd joked with his gap-toothed smile and they'd all shared a laugh. And it was pretty funny…that part, anyway.

The beating that Udon had weathered didn't seem quite so funny, now or then. But more than that, they'd all taken everything so very seriously only to show, in the end, that they were just stupid little kids…which maybe was just as well. In the Hidden Leaf Village you were never far from a cemetery or monument that let you know just what happened when the adults and the bigger kids fought for real.

Looking again out of the corner of his eye at Konohamaru, Udon couldn't help but feel a familiar twinge of envy. WHY couldn't he be more like _him_, so carefree most of the time, so good at things, unburdened by questions or doubt, confidence like a blazing bonfire, and with the blood of the powerful Senju clan flowing through his veins? Better yet, why couldn't he be like Sasuke Uchiha, he wondered, lapsing again into daydream, so cool, so admired, at the top of his class, with that air of brooding mystery and, of course, the nearly-magical powers of his Sharingan eyes? Even the whole Hidden Leaf Village with all its talented shinobi and all the dangerous missions it'd sent him on hadn't been challenging enough for Uchiha scion and so he'd left to find his path elsewhere…a decision that had only made his reputation soar even higher.

Udon snapped from his reverie as Ebisu rose and stepped past him on his way to join Iruka-sensei just as the teacher was concluding his evaluations of his students' performances. The chunin greeted him with a friendly collegiality as he explained aloud: "Ebisu-sensei has asked us to allow his student, Konohamaru, along with a couple of his friends who plan to be cadets next year, to participate today and allow them the chance to experience our taijutsu training."

Mutters and barely suppressed snickers rose up as the young trainees whispered among themselves, eyes flickering toward Lord Hirazen's grandson with expressions that ranged between scornful and reverent.

As the blood drained from Udon's face, he could sense Konohamaru rise with gleeful anticipation. Already the boy had doffed his goggles, unwound and freed himself from the long scarf he never went anywhere without.

"Now class," continued Iruka insistently, "Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon are all younger than you are and not even cadets yet so I expect control from you, light contact only."

As Konohamaru was to be first, he eagerly took his position against an academy student who seemingly didn't know how he should go about fighting someone 'famous'. When Iruka signaled for them to begin, Konohamaru sprang immediately to the attack and took his opponent by surprise. His whirlwind blows gave the gap-toothed boy the advantage until the older cadet finally regrouped and, furious at being bum-rushed, counter-attacked with abandon. The rest of the contest degenerated into a wild brawl that, with Konohamaru being so outmatched in size and experience, he couldn't possibly win. Still, the 'honorable grandson' held on and was still standing, still fighting, beaten, bruised but unbowed when Iruka-sensei called for them to stop.

Moegi was next and found herself paired against another kunoichi. Though hesitant at first, after the first blows thudded against her guard she came to life like a fire doused with gasoline, and the fight concluded with the two seeming much closer to equal terms from when it began.

Now it was Udon's turn. He'd known it would be. With a sinking feeling settling in the pit of his stomach like that of the condemned he rose and made his way onto the combed earth stiffly, robotically, as if his body was being moved by unseen strings. It was all he could do not to stare in naked horror at the broad-shouldered kunoichi chosen to face him as she made her approach. He remembered that she'd won her bout handily.

"Relax," Ebisu muttered in a helpful tone as he took the boy's glasses from his eyes and goggles from his forehead to keep them safe, "keep your hands up, always keep moving, and try out some of the techniques we've been working on. You can do it."

Udon nodded but found as he stood there that he couldn't remember a thing. His mind had gone completely blank even as his heart began to race. While Iruka conducted, Udon felt himself go through the proceedings, raise his hand to his chest, the fore and middle fingers raised, then let them fall as the battle-scarred teacher announced for them to begin. The boy brought his hands up level with his chin then stood frozen as the stocky girl came forward and punched him squarely in the face, her fist passing through his upraised guard unobstructed like a football between goal posts.

It didn't hurt really, it was more the shock of surprise, a feeling of impact that left Udon with the sensation of drowning: struggling but unable to move, legs going to jelly. Before he could fall, the kunoichi-cadet grabbed his arm, her strong fingers digging in hard, then hauled the boy forward. Udon felt himself go, head jerking back as his body lurched forward into hers then suddenly a whirl of motion followed by a jarring thud as his back slammed against the ground. Now she was atop him, her weight pinning him, crushing the air from his lungs as she squatted heavily on his chest with her knees dug uncomfortably into his armpits.

The girl cocked a fist back but, as Udon stared dazedly up at her from the bottom of a well of helplessness, he could tell from the look on her face that it was just to demonstrate her triumph. She wasn't really going to hit him again. There was no point. Even so, a wave of nausea and pulsing pains throughout his body unlike anything he'd ever felt before gripped him. Sweat poured down his flushed cheeks and forehead. His senses muddied then with the roar of Iruka-sensei's command to stop, the mutterings and shouts of the class, the thuds of pounding, rushing footfalls in the soft ground then one quick image that clicked in his mind like a fast-motion snapshot - the unforgettable expression on Konohamaru's enraged face, bared white teeth, eyes furious as he crashed with a headlong tackle into the victorious kunoichi just a moment before everything greyed to black, a blessing that spared the boy further humiliation.

* * *

**Haku**

Having the advantage now, the young ninja, with him the zealous spirits of forty-seven Mist Village legends, leaped forward, his whirling swords of ice slashing deeply into leathery, scaled, armored, amorphous or feathered flanks, severing arms, pincers, tentacles and occasionally, the heads of his enemies – the 108 Demons.

Taken aback at first by the ferocity of his attack, the mainstay of the monstrous host regrouped only to find themselves driven further by a blast of sleet and arctic air that froze to ice the weaker of their numbers. In their midst, the ninja spun then then took to the air, borne aloft on a gust of wind as the demons thrashed and wriggled then circled after him into the cloud-laden sky over the shattered, lightning-scorched landscape of Piazza Hirai.

Beneath his ANBU mask, Haku smiled grimly, counting it as good luck that the beasts had fallen for it, following him up into the sky where wind and water held dominion, where the powers of his Aramata clan kekkei-genkai gave him an even greater edge. There, high above the Mist Village, Haku continued the battle, swords whirling, his mastery over the elements punishing the 108 Demons with cyclone winds, crackling lightning and torrents of freezing rain and hail. All around him, fully at his command, swarms and schools of summoned yokai fish, hungry for chakra, descended in waves over the demons their master had vanquished, allowing no part of them to flee, no tiny fragment or spark of energy from which they might regrow.

One of his ghosts, the perspicacious shade of a decades-dead sensory-ninja, let him know that not all the demons had followed him. Quite a few had wandered off into the city or fled while others had gone off in search of simpler prey or merely a place to hide. Then too, not all of them could fly.

Haku chafed at the idea that these would escape him but there was nothing he could do about it for now. The young ninja's grey eyes surveyed the monstrous forms all around him and he warned himself against overconfidence. Though he held the upper hand, these demons were certainly more than capable of killing him if he wasn't careful.

* * *

**Naruto**

The waters of Lord Hirai's jutsu carried him down, down into the frigid, lightless and oceanic depths for what seemed like forever, his body tumbling helplessly in the currents until, with the last of his held breath failing and precious air bubbling out of his nose and lips off into the darkness, a distant pinprick of light appeared. Naruto felt the water take hold and turn him, change his direction then send him hurtling on even faster. The light grew, expanding into a portal as the young ninja went racing toward it. The pressure against his skin, once crushing, began to weaken then suddenly released entirely as the genin broke through the plane and found himself vomited up into the air of the surface world once again. Floundering as he gasped for breath, Naruto flailed in mid-air then came crashing down, landing on hard pavement with a splash of grimy water.

"Agh!" the teenager groaned as he sat up, nursing that part of his backside that'd weathered most of the impact.

A grim alleyway greeted him – walls of dark, mineral-streaked stone, three-stories high; sad windows with sagging glass panes, the paint peeling from wooden frames; lonesome trash bins guarding fire escapes skeletal and rusting; overhead, a slice of cloud-clotted sky. He had returned to Kirigakure.

There was something different about the place though, something had changed. It had been misty before, true to its name. It was not so now. Above the alley, a harsh wind whistled, its fingers catching at the parapet caps, carrying leaves, scraps of trash and flecks of ice that rushed by in blurs or else hovered there in circling vortices before vanishing in a blink.

Stoic Hideo, having been transported with Naruto, stood a pace away, equally waterlogged but otherwise unmoved by the experience. He straightened then stared as if listening to a distant voice while the shivering yellow-haired genin pushed his way to his feet and shook some of the water off.

"My master's coming," Hideo intoned – a simple statement of fact. "I must find my way to him."

Naruto blinked. The genin knew now that Hideo was not a living man ruled by the things that drove the living but only a floating spirit, a revenant brought back by the ninja-lord Tohma Nikai and controlled by the complex dictates of his jutsu. Though generally unnerved by things supernatural, the boy ached with sadness at the idea of what that sort of half-existence must be like – to be neither alive nor dead. "Ok," he answered in simple acknowledgement then added a cracking, heartfelt voice: "thanks." The zombie, if that's what he was, had saved his life after all.

Hideo paused long enough to nod back, wove his fingers into a seal then disappeared.

Alone now, Naruto looked up, frowned then leaped, his chakra-assisted bounds taking him zigzagging back and forth up the walls of the alley until he reached the windswept rooftop. All around him, Kirigakure no Sato spread in a disordered mass out toward the waters that surrounded it – a confusing maze of cityscape slashed by wide avenues and carved by twisting canals, interspersed here and there by grander buildings, towers, stadia and more curious structures that struck up from the city like islands from the sea. Lord Hirai had delivered him to the Mist Village true to his word, though exactly where, he had no idea.

_How am I supposed to find Haku in all this?_ Naruto grumbled to himself, bracing against a sudden gust of cold wind, just as he turned to see, off in the distance and high over the ruins of the city's largest square, a lone figure warring against swarms of unreal shapes – inky figures on a tapestry of stormy greys.

The teenager stared harder, blue eyes widening in astonishment under the shelf of his upraised hands. The sting of the wind made him wish for his long-abandoned goggles. Though he hadn't seen that particular jade robe or bone-white ANBU mask in some time, there was no mistaking them.

_H-Haku?! _

Naruto's heart lifted, his thoughts swam – pure happiness that his friend was alive; amazement at his powers; envy that Haku could have grown so much stronger so quickly, and finally…horror that he was missing out on a fight like this!

A snowflake landed on the genin's nose as if to tease, and he began to quake.

"_Shadow Clone Jutsu!"_ the teenager roared to the heavens as he interwove his fingers to form a seal, rising to the challenge with a confident smile on his face.

Blond clones, an army's worth, exploded from the rooftop, shooting off in a wave like dandelion seeds on a stiff wind.

* * *

**Mei**

"_What the hell just happened?!"_ the kunoichi demanded to know.

The change in the atmosphere was palpable; one didn't need to be sensitive to chakra pressures to feel it – a great unburdening as if the air itself, maybe even the entire world had grown lighter. And all this even as the skies over Kirigakure churned, spitting snow and cold rain that drifted over the pair where they stood on their distant rooftop vantage.

Captain Ao, there beside her with mouth agape, the veins along the side of his head pulsing as they carried blood and energy to and from his activated Byakugan eye, stared hard. Though it was covered as always by a protective patch, Mei knew very well that the blue-haired jonin could see the battlefield more clearly than if he looked through the lens of a powerful telescope no matter what the weather. "Haku…he's…he's broken their power."

"What?!" Mei blurted, emerald eyes wide and blazing as she watched the fugitive Demon's Apprentice soar skyward from the destroyed Piazza Hirai, trailed by a legion of loathsome monsters. "Incredible." Her mind struggled to take in the surreal scene – like something imagined in a far-eastern myth. This was a rare piece of good news, one that raised as many questions as it answered.

From what little the senior kunoichi knew at the moment there seemed only one way for someone like Haku, a talented genin-level ninja, maybe chunin at best, to have pulled off such a feat. Somehow, someone had shown him, and he had actually been able to master the Hirai Clan's most closely-guarded and demanding technique, one veiled in secrecy. The implications of such a possibility spun off into unmapped trajectories in her mind and reminded her, uncomfortably, of just how much she didn't know about what was going on. "The remaining demons," the woman followed up, putting the matter aside for now, "what's their strength, as individuals I mean?"

"Impressive, dangerous," Ao judged, "but not insurmountable."

Mei smiled as her sense of helplessness before the events that had enshrouded her Mist Village began to lift. _"Really?!"_ She turned with a sweep toward her commanders stationed dutifully behind her, waiting in a ready crouch for her word. "Now we counter-attack! Dispatch our sensory-ninja to command points throughout the city. They are to track the location of each demon and probe for weaknesses. All other shinobi are to attack the outliers in two-team formations. Pick them off one-by-one until there're none left. Clear the city!

"Come on, Ao," the jonin announced in a simmering tone as she tossed her mane of auburn hair. "I'm in the mood to get my _hands_ dirty."

Ao straightened, clearly reluctant to speak. "A-all our troops have been pulled back to the outskirts and bunkers to protect the civilians, Ms. Terumi," said the Captain. "It'll take a few minutes for teams to form up and move to engage."

Mei shot him a shocked, wounded look, whirled angrily then stormed up to him, moving so close that their noses brushed. _"What did you just say about me not being __**engaged?**__"_ she demanded tensely, eyes wrathful.

"I...WHAT?!" the man squawked. "B-b-b-but, that's not what I said at all!"

"Well, if you ever say something like that again," whispered Mei with cold menace into his ear, "I'll _kill_ you."

"Uh," replied Ao uncomfortably as he overcame his bewilderment and proceeded slowly, weighing every word, "I-I really only wanted to tell you that it'll take a little while for our mist-ninja to get to where the demons are."

"WE won't be waiting as long as that." Slowly Mei's expression softened and she added in a teasing tone: "So try and stay alert, would you?"

Before departing for the battlefield with her loyal captain in tow, the statuesque kunoichi looked up and nodded meaningfully toward the figure at war already high above the Kirigakure streets. "I swear, Ao, when this is over…I got a question or two for _that_ kid."

* * *

**Haku**

The top of one demon's head went sailing off into space, having been parted across its asymmetrical array of bulbous, faceted eyes with a spray of tar-like ichor by a single swipe of the Demon's Apprentice's ice blade. The demon's equally-horrifying cousin, squirting itself through the air toward the ninja with an octopus-like pulse, suddenly froze solid and went plunging earthward, there to smash to bits against the uncaring pavement. Waves of color rippled as schools of summoned fish descended over the remains. In the frenzy, Haku had lost track of how many he'd destroyed but it was a few dozen at least now that he'd hit his stride. That was why it took him as such a surprise when his transcendent, nearly godlike powers suddenly vanished – a sickening pulse, a long moment of shock and then…nothing.

Lord Hirai had warned him. Lady Midori Hirai, who'd invented the jutsu after all and understood better than anyone how unstable and perilous it was, had been with him, merged with his consciousness. Still there'd been no hint or word of warning, no sputtering out or fading away. It was just…gone.

Having held the company and been given the guidance of so many elite shinobi, now the teenager found himself again alone, stricken with the shock of solitude. Having wielded the vast reservoirs of their combined chakra, now the trailing demands of the Hirai Clan's Candlelight Gate Jutsu tore its toll from Haku's body alone. Zabuza's apprentice could feel his life energy rip away, helpless to slow or stop it even if such a withdrawal might kill him. His consciousness flickered as he steeled himself against waves of crippling, unnerving pain.

Gravity, just a moment before so obliging, so easily overcome, now tugged at the young shinobi's limp, near-lifeless form, very gently at first but then more assertively, pulling him faster, faster and faster until he was in full gut-wrenching free-fall with the wind whipping through his hair and clothes. Down Haku plunged like a bird speared in mid-flight, his two swords of ice slipping from his slack fingers as the Kirigakure cityscape rushed up at the teenager, growing wider and wider in his blurring vision, and worse still – with demons spiraling after him from above.

* * *

**Lord Hirai**

The elderly ninja-lord and patriarch returned to his chair at the improvised command center he'd ordered set up in the war-ravaged courtyard of his clan's ancestral castle, folded his arms and dropped his chin. It had been, in his estimation, over sixty years since he'd acted on impulse and longer than that since he'd done something so plainly foolish. As a man who always prided himself on his deliberation – no action taken without thorough intelligence, analysis and planning, this was no easy admission. Actions, like stones, he'd always felt, should build on one another.

Perhaps he'd let Lady Inoue's attack on his castle, on himself, get the better of the emotions he'd thought safely subjugated.

A harsh cry rattled then in his ears and he looked up, startled slightly, at the lone raven that had perched there atop a scorched parapet and regarded him now askance with head cocked. The old man's lips parted.

There were no ravens on this island.

There never had been.

"Lord Hirai!" a guard alerted him sharply as more Hirai clan shinobi appeared from nowhere to protect him.

"It's alright," he announced in a tone of enforced calm as he rose. "They're my guests."

Over the shoulders of his men, he could see the figures emerge like something out of a bad dream – from one side, a towering man whose bluish skin and unfeeling eyes made his identity undeniable, whose fame and infamy both as the Scourge of the Hidden Mist would be enough to unman anyone who thought to stand against him; from the other, a man no less infamous in another land, his dreaded eyes darker than black. Both wore the flowing, high-collared ebon robes emblazoned with red, silver-bordered clouds that marked them as members of the insidious Akatsuki.

"Leave us," said Lord Hirai at which his guards turned to him in shock as if he'd gone deranged.

"S-sir?!"

The Hirai patriarch managed a confident veneer. "Do it," he commanded softly to ease their understandable panic then resumed his seat, "please."

"Well, well!" crowed Kisame Hoshigake as he drew closer. Above that pair of cruel, glassy and subaquatic eyes rested a hitai-ate bearing the familiar crest of Kirigakure but with a gash struck through it, across his powerful back - his unworldly weapon, the sword Samehada. The man looked around appreciatively at the ruins, freshly-scorched walls and cratered, still-smoldering landscape, the teams of men clearing away wreckage and searching doggedly for survivors. "'Seems like we caught you at a bad time, old man. Ha! You really must've pissed in the wrong guy's breakfast for the Mist Village to sic the Fire-Tongue Fleet on _you_. Oh, did you think that was a secret?" He laughed again, showing ranks of triangular teeth.

While Kisame talked, his partner circled the table slowly, studying his surroundings without comment before he took a seat beside the old shinobi. As with all the Akatsuki, at least the ones Lord Hirai had been so unfortunate as to have dealings with, they carried with them an almost inexplicable _umbra_ of dread. The world seemed to condense, drawing in claustrophobically close.

"We got your note," intoned Itachi Uchiha hollowly, getting right to business. "Where is the jinchuuriki?"

"He's," Hirai began then the words caught in his throat. The sheer _presence _of these two was almost unbearable – the magnitude of Kisame's monstrous chakra along with its nature, pure and predatory; Itachi, who'd massacred his own clan, whose unfathomable abilities were feared even among the ninja elite.

However powerful Hirai's own jutsu and magics were, these two transcended anything from even his long experience, were younger, fiercer by far, feared killers and members of an organization whose reach and ultimate motives could only be guessed at. And he was old, so old and had never felt more frail. "He's gone," he said at last.

The all but last of the Uchiha looked at him curiously, his obsidian eyes hovering over shovel cheekbones. "Gone?" the former leaf-ninja echoed in a quizzical, barely-amused tone then inquired, "Where?"

Hirai hesitated, paralyzed in thought like an amateur as he considered what to say. This did not pass unnoticed.

Kisame bridled, his shark-like face twisting into a belligerent scowl. "You'd better tell us, Hirai. You're clearly having a bad day but it could get worse - worse than you can imagine!"

"Please, Kisame, can't you see this man's been through a great deal," Itachi interceded gently, coolly, consolingly then turned back to his host with a particularly chilling emphasis. "I know what it's like to…_lose family_. It's not a pain I would wish on anyone."

The old man swallowed hard. Something about those words, the inflection in the Uchiha's not-so-veiled threat, made him sure more than he'd ever been before that this man, very nearly the last of his kind, dwelled at the summits of sociopathic madness – the hereditary curse of his clan's kekkei-genkai.

More of the impossible black birds gathered, perching in long lines along the parapets and eaves of his castle, swooping crisscross through the air. Their boisterous caws echoed. Had he already been pulled into the world of this monster's genjutsu? Sweat beaded along the patriarch's hairline, pressure built in his chest. Was it even possible to lie to _those_ eyes?

"K-Kirigakure," Hirai revealed at last. "He's gone to Kirigakure."

"That's all we needed to know," Itachi conceded then rose smoothly to his feet, joined his partner and both began to walk away.

"Wait," prevailed Hirai, reaching toward the two. "Will…will you still – will you still kill Krishenay Rahaman?"

"That's not the deal, old man!" barked Kisame. "I stopped being Kirigakure's protector, you should remember that." The man, the so-called 'tail-less tailed beast' smiled, showing those rows of razor teeth. "If you're all out of fresh jinchuuriki to trade, then I guess the Mist Village will just have to solve its own problems this time."

As the Scourge of the Hidden Mist's cruel, mocking laughter faded, Hirai sat and stared for a moment then rested his head in his hands. When he looked up again, both the Akatsuki along with Itachi's murder of crows were gone as if they'd never been.

* * *

**Kiba**

By the time they reached Kirigakure, it had become appearant that the passageway they'd discovered was a masterfully conceived escape route built probably by one of their ninja clans just as Shikamaru had predicted. The leaf-ninja had also deduced that it had been concealed within the construction of one of the Mist Village's many aqueducts that fed from nearby islands, and that spinning the glyph-inscribed prayer wheels set at the entrance and exit activated spells that masked intrusion. _'Considering that Naruto and Haku followed this passage,'_ he'd theorized, _'Haku undoubtedly having learned about it from his sensei, Zabuza, we can probably assume it's safe. Still, we ought to be careful.'_

_Huh, pretty smart,_ Kiba allowed with a smirk as he followed the pair's scent. In the closed environment of the passageway, the trail was fresh and distinct. No one else had passed in years.

The escape route had taken them from the concealed water-well exit out laterally quite a ways, transitioned into a tight spiral stairway that seemed to go up forever, along again at a steady, slightly downward slope and then down another tubular, spiral stairway to where it emptied out through a concealed portal into the long-abandoned ruins of a walled villa that, clearly, had been splendid once. If the place really had been the home of one of Kirigakure's ninja clans, it had been a large and wealthy one judging by the size and the architecture – so many times bigger than Clan Inuzuka's humble house back in Konoha.

It was hard for Kiba not to wonder about the circumstances surrounding their reversal of fortune.

The Leaf Village really didn't have anything like this – ruins. Of course, the entire city had been leveled to ruins more than once but it had been built back each time. There were no pockets that had been left alone, vestiges of the past abandoned to molder in place like that forgotten piece of fruit at the back of the refrigerator. Only the closed-off Uchiha District came close.

_Bad luck,_ considered Kiba with a frown as he picked his way through the crumbling structure. _Probably happens more often than I'd like to think._

The dark-haired teenager followed Haku and Naruto's trail through lightless chambers, over heaps of stone, tile and timber where the roof had fallen in, until he came to a courtyard where his appearance sent populations of startled wildlife, mostly rats and pigeons, to scurrying and flapping flight. The genin couldn't help but startle a little. It was all a little spooky with the wind rushing overhead in stormy, howling gusts that would suddenly die away into stony silences.

"Kiba," warned Shikamaru urgently, "slow down. Stuff like that could give us away."

Kiba grimaced reflexively at his former classmate's chastisement but nodded, grunting in agreement. The taller shinobi was right – rushing things was really, really stupid, especially in the middle of the Hidden Mist Village. He'd gotten away with it so far because his instincts had proven right, but nobody was one-hundred percent all the time.

Akamaru, at his heel, cocked his white head and offered an inquisitive whine.

The teenager nodded down at his canine companion, gave him a reassuring pat, took a breath and vowed greater caution.

_Calm down,_ he urged himself. _You'll find him. You'll find him._

It was easier to think than believe sometimes. Naruto was nearly impossible NOT to notice. Though ninja-trained, stealth wasn't exactly his 'thing'. The idea that he could pass unnoticed for even a minute inside Kirigakure no Sato seemed pretty farfetched. And Haku, for all his skillfulness, was still a wanted criminal having been Zabuza Momochi's disciple and accomplice. If the Mist found out he'd come back, the shit would really, really hit the fan.

The genin slowed his pace, let out a breath, and tried to get a handle on his over-eagerness_. REAL ninja don't put themselves and their teammates at risk over personal stuff, _Kiba told himself and wished that patience was one of his virtues. _Only selfish scumbags, the Sasukes of the world, pull crap like that._

The young leaf-ninja shivered inwardly at the comparison then allowed himself a grim smile.

_I guess it won't kill me to have to wait a little longer. Ok, fine - teamwork,_ he vowed but still bristled at the delay_…until the time's right!_

It took a few more minutes to reach the iron-bound door that lead outside. There they paused to go over what disguises they would adopt through their Transformation Jutsu and what roles they would play. Out of the 'Seven Ways of Going' they'd all mastered in the Leaf Village's Academy, the 'traveling family' seemed best, owing to their number and that they had a dog with them.

Though the door itself seemed well-secured, Shikamaru figured out almost at once that most of its locks were only for show and had it open in moments, finding behind it a barren alleyway where a small cluster of vagrants slept in a loose group. The chunin stiffened and held his team back.

"What is it, Shikamaru," said Chouji in a hushed, urgent tone, "a trap?"

The taller ninja shook his head. "Worse," he began quietly, straightened and turned back to the three soberly. "I thought right off it was weird to people sleeping in the middle of the day during a windstorm. Look at their clothes too – nicer than what you'd expect from anyone living on the streets. Those people aren't sleeping."

Kiba narrowed his eyes. "So what are you saying?" he challenged. "Spit it out already."

Shikamaru frowned. "You remember that ninja clan Mari warned us about, right, the Tsujita and their kekkei-genkai?" He cocked his thumb in the direction of the bodies. "I guess these guys couldn't make it to the hospital."

Sakura gasped. "Plague."

Reflexively the four and even Akamaru drew back a step, their faces tense.

"So w-what," said Chouji nervously, "what're we gonna do?"

"What can we do – our mission," Shikamaru answered. "There's an army at the other end of our aqueduct passage. It'd be troublesome if we turned back. Plus we all knew it was dangerous. What difference does it make if the danger's from a disease or enemy ninja? You can end up just as dead either way. And don't forget - Naruto's already out there, Haku too."

The chunin's expression shifted uncomfortably as if he hadn't meant to put matters quite so bluntly. Still, thought Kiba, he was right.

"Guys," piped Sakura, her firm, cheering voice breaking the mood, "forget about it. A plague's the _last_ thing we have to worry about. Remember, Lady Tsunade is the greatest medical ninja in the elemental nations. As long as we can get back, she can cure us."

Chouji looked up, cautiously hopeful. "You really think so?"

"She healed _you_ after your fight with Jirobo. And remember what she did for Rock Lee? I've seen what she can do," the kunoichi attested. "It's nothing less than amazing…that's why I became her disciple."

A thankful smile played out over Shikamaru's face. "Exactly right. All leaf-ninja have to do their jobs, the Hokage too."

Kiba smiled, one fang pressing into his lower lip. "So how come we're wasting time standing around here?"

* * *

Taking the lead, Kiba picked his way down the alleyway, bending his path to veer around the bodies that were still fresh enough to look like they might still be alive - unconscious or sleeping. Only their pallor betrayed them, their open, glassy eyes, their cold, un-breathing stillness. They had not, thankfully, passed the point where the genin could smell the difference. He'd seen corpses before of course, but not so frequently that they failed to unnerve him.

Staying diligently on his task, Kiba refocused on Haku and Naruto's scents. Though their trail was protected by the walls of the alleyway, there was a hard wind blowing, making it so much fainter than it had been in the sealed environment of the aqueduct's secret passage. The young ninja scowled and sent more chakra to the olfactory receptors of his nose and to a small area in the frontal lobe of his brain until the trail was discernible again. Suddenly, a sharp stench assaulted him – a reek of earth and animal musk mixed with blood. The ninja spun, hunting for the source. Akamaru noticed it too, darted away a few feet and glared up, barking.

"What is it, Kiba?" asked Sakura who, with Kiba and the others, followed the puppy's eyes up toward a bristling leonine face that peered down at them hungrily from the rooftop just above. The monster straitened slowly – its head bulbous, white and bony with tall horns jutting from its brow, eyes blazing red and gold, its mouth a horror of yellow tusks and, hanging from its neck - containers of glass bound with iron. Within them red fluid sloshed.

Taken aback in shock, Kiba recoiled at first before he settled himself. "Oh, is this the part where I'm scared?" he spat at the demon who roared back in reply – a sound like metal being crushed. "YOU should be scared," the genin explained in a snarl as his hands flowed through a complex series of seals and a purposeful smile spread over his face, both pointed incisors bared. "Ninja art -," he began.

"Wait, Kiba -," cautioned Shikamaru.

"-Lycanthropy, Level Two."

* * *

**Tsunade**

The Fifth Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves sat at her desk that had been reclaimed recently from the forest and gazed contemplatively out her newly-installed window in the freshly-repaired wall of her office, thinking about everything and nothing in turns.

"Come in," she offered in response to her adjutant's familiar knock.

Shizune poked her black-haired head in then entered, approaching her master in what was clearly forced composure. "Uh, Lady Tsunade," she began softly in that particular tone that warned her master to brace herself, "it's happened again…worse this time."

That's how it was for the most part: being Hokage. You didn't have time to solve all the Village's problems like you always imagined you would; you were always too busy either juggling the endless day-to-day tasks that kept the wheels of bureaucracy in motion or else emergencies, things that had to be done NOW that you would never have expected.

"I see," the woman sighed, knowing at once what the medical-ninja was talking about - the strange outbreaks of random diseases that had been striking here and there throughout the village recently, defying explanation. "What is it this time?"

"Almost an entire class of academy students, Iruka and Ebisu as well – dengue fever."

Tsunade rubbed her forehead then rested both arms flat on her desk. This _was_ serious. For a moment she allowed herself to entertain the idea that maybe there could be some conventional, perfectly ordinary and reasonable explanation for an often deadly, mosquito-borne virus much more common to tropical climates to suddenly strike here in her Hidden Leaf Village. A nagging pessimistic streak made sure it didn't last long. "We're under attack, aren't we," she concluded grimly.

Shizune's lips formed a thin line. "Our analysts with the ANBU have calculated that the statistical chance of all these outbreaks being natural occurrences is virtually zero," the kunoichi all but confirmed. "Our Research Department couldn't find any reported of a similar incident occurring anywhere. Also, the Aburame Clan has confirmed with certainty that none of these outbreaks were caused by insect-tamers or even insect activity. "

"It makes no sense!" Tsunade snapped, tossing her head in exasperation. "A few people come down with shingles here, a few more with h. pylori there, norovirus, e. coli infections, small spikes and mico-outbreaks all over Konoha but nothing truly serious or widespread. It doesn't even seem like any of it was intended to hurt us, maybe confuse or distract or something like that at most…unless it was all just for practice." The Hokage grew quiet and steepled her hands under her chin, her amber eyes hard. Silence filled the room. "I suppose whoever's responsible has learned to be more dangerous," she suggested then began again in a more subdued tone in regard for the victims: "Is everyone alright?"

"Since our medical corps was already on high alert, we managed to isolate those infected right away once the first patients started coming in with extremely high fever, weakness, joint pain and dehydration. They're all being treated now at the hospital and are in stable conditions."

Tsunade frowned and sat back in her chair. "I was hoping we would have determined and contained the source by now and avoided a panic but there's no putting it off anymore – I'll have to warn the village." She rose and moved to the window. Sunlight slanted across her sandy hair, concerned expression and the pale green of her robe as she drew close. "Our citizens are a pretty tough bunch. They've suffered attacks, weathered shinobi mischief and mayhem since the inception of our Village."

Outside, Konohagakure no Sato glowed in the afternoon.

The kunoichi braced her hands into her hips. "That doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt a little bit to have to be the bearer of bad news. It feels a lot like failure to me and I don't like it." She rolled her eyes skyward, seeing a premonition of Danzo, Homura and Koharu's old faces scowling back at her, critical and unimpressed. That this was a medical issue that had confounded her, a _legendary_ medical-ninja, only made it worse. The Hokage sighed, her chin dropping toward her ample chest. "And then there's the political cost, of course, always.

"Do we at least have any leads?"

Shizune allowed herself to brighten just slightly then handed her a folder. "This time there was a boy, a friend of Konohamaru's, who was at the scene of the outbreak but is, so far, asymptomatic. He's the only one who is. We're keeping him for observation." The dark-haired girl paused meaningfully. "There's a…something unusual in his blood work I thought you should look at."

The woman glanced at it, shook her head with a snort and a dismissive smile. "_Obviously_ there's a problem with the instrumentation, the technician or both," she explained. "Run it again."

"Lady Tsunade," the medical-ninja persisted with some delicacy, "we considered those possibilities and ran it five times on three different machines. I personally oversaw the last two. It's the same every time."

The Hokage's brow narrowed, remembering how well she'd trained Shizune. "Contaminated sample?"

Shizune shook her head.

Tsunade opened the folder again and stared, frowning this time. "Shit," was all she could say.

* * *

**Kiba**

Breathing hard, the team from Konoha rested, three of them staring in wary disbelief at the monstrous half-man, half-wolf towering in their midst. Even the normally precocious Akamaru seemed subdued by its overwhelming, supernatural presence. The creature's right hand clutched a long horn, broken off at one end, while the razor claws of its left were clotted with gelatinous ichor.

"So I guess that's a...," mused Shikamaru with an uncertain, discomfited look on his face, "_new_ jutsu, Kiba?"

The beast straightened into a more familiar, typically-human posture, picked his dagger fangs absently with the pointed end of the horn then tossed it away and shook off the gore from its hand. "That's it," the beast rumbled, "Inuzuka Clan Jutsu. Mom's finally teaching me the GOOD stuff she'd kept secret all these years."

"Well change back already!" insisted Sakura with a shake of her head as she nursed her knuckles. "You're way too scary looking. And I _never_ thought I'd ever see you with a jutsu scarier than that giant two-headed wolf. Between you and _that thing_," she canted her head in the direction the lion-like monster had fled, "it's getting just a little too _Halloween_ around here."

The werewolf leaned forward provocatively and raised a gleaming, yellow eye. "Aw, I was just starting to like me this way."

"That's a pretty good technique," offered Chouji as he looked his lupine companion up and down. "I don't think we could've driven off that - that, _whatever it was_ otherwise."

"Yeah, it's pretty cool," Kiba ventured. "The only drawback is…_it gives me a craving for __**human flesh."**_

Chouji, Shikamaru and Sakura stared at him aghast.

The werewolf spread his arms then chuckled. "I'm just kidding, guys, come on. Lighten up a little."

"Cut it out, Kiba," grumbled Sakura who crossed her arms and frowned. "It's not funny."

"Seriously guys," Kiba began again in grave admission, staring at his curled, clawed hands just as his teammates started to relax, "I can't control this form all the time."

Again they stared.

This time he shifted and looked straight at Shikamaru. "I got you again," he quipped with a fanged smile that was half-silly, half-nightmarish. "Are you _sure_ you're the smart one of the group?"

"Will you stop it!" Shikamaru barked testily then slugged wolf-Kiba in the stomach. "And next time, WARN us if you're gonna use a jutsu like _that._"

Kiba folded slightly from the blow, laughing as he stumbled back a step. "Oof! Hey, hey, EASY, Shikamaru," he protested happily, clearly delighted with himself. "I'm delicate under this rough façade."

"Oh? I'm surprised," replied Sakura.

"What, that I'm really delicate?"

The pink-haired girl's eyes lit. "That you could use the word 'façade' in a sentence."

"Hey! Now that -," sputtered the werewolf, "- that's mean!"

"Ok, ok, back on the clock, _team_," said Shikamaru gruffly as Kiba released his jutsu and returned again to his human self.

The genin, still chuckling softly, sniffed and looked up at the stormy, snow-speckled sky, the wind blowing hard in eerie push-pull gusts above the roofs of the buildings that flanked them. The lingering, playful smile faded then from his tattooed face.

"What is it, Kiba?" said Sakura.

After all his kidding around it was hard to tell her. "I've…I've lost the scent," he admitted, reluctance making his voice catch.

A pall fell over the team.

"Ok, I haven't completely lost it. It's just that that demon's stink is covering it up." He frowned as he started to pace. "But the real bad news is that wind. Normally, I'd just circle the area, do a spiral search pattern out wider and wider until I found the scent again but all this wind…"

"The trail's been blown away," Shikamaru finished for him.

Kiba nodded, crestfallen.

The chunin looked up into the turbulent sky. "Tracking them is still our best hope, even if the trail's faint. Otherwise we got nothing," he offered, doing nothing more than summarizing their obvious plight. "Alright," Shikamaru started again, "being that a storm's underway and, for whatever reason, there are monsters running loose, not to mention a plague, it's better if we hole up in the villa until the storm dies down and we can find out more about what's going on." His clear, dark eyes swept over the faces of his teammates who all nodded in assent. If their leader was at all discouraged, he hid it well. "Come on, team, let's -."

A flash of motion drew their attention. All looked up at the speeding figure that passed over them, clearing the alleyway easily in a single bound. And though the boy was clad in the blue and grey fatigues of a ninja of the Hidden Mist, there was no mistaking that wide-eyed face and brush of bright yellow hair even at the quickest glance.

"No-," Sakura started, mouth agape.

"-freaking -," continued Chouji, wide eyed.

"—way!" Kiba finished in complete astonishment. The genin's cheek twitched; his mind reeled at the impossible idea that he'd really just seen what he'd just seen. His heart leaped. The leaf-ninja dipped immediately into a crouch. With legs fully coiled to spring in pursuit of his 'prey', he nearly strained something as he forced himself to pause and shoot a look toward Shikamaru.

The chunin glared back at him then blinked, nonplussed. "NOW you're waiting for my go-ahead?! AFTER HIM!" he blurted harshly with a whipping wave of his arm as all four ninja along with Akamaru rushed to give chase.

* * *

**Haku**

In the seconds before impact, Haku considered his options. Nothing came to mind. Even if he were to survive the fall, the multi-tentacled, somewhat starfish-like horror plunging after him, blotting out most of what he could see of the sky, didn't seem inclined to let him live much longer thereafter.

The cityscape below exploded in his vision and the young ninja closed his eyes, preparing for the hit and very probably oblivion, when a great gale of wind blasted up and slowed his fall. Though a godsend, it was not enough to stop the young shinobi's momentum. His back slammed hard against the flat, gravel-topped roof, leaving him with only barely enough breath and sense to flop over and scrabble away an instant before the pursuing demon crashed down, smashing a gaping rent in the unlucky building.

With his vision filled with spots and sparkles, and his body refusing most of his commands, Haku felt the roof give way behind him; he fell and went rolling along with a cascade of gravel right toward the monster's thrashing, thorny limbs. Desperately, he pulled out a fistful of senbon and hammered home a handhold, using it to stop his slide, then pulled himself up and scrambled away, taking shelter behind a squat, mechanical penthouse. Barely had he rested his bruised and broken back and let out a pained breath when one of the demon's flailing limbs smashed through his hiding place with a crash of shattering masonry and shriek of tearing metal. Vestiges of Master Zabuza's training compelled him to spring away, fling senbon while in mid-air then meet the ground with a fluid, diving roll but as he tried, he found his battered, depleted body unable to carry it out – a lingering cost of Lord Hirai's jutsu.

Haku landed in a graceless sprawl, flopping limply over the gravel as a riot of tentacles slashed after him, carving great gashes and rents in the roof all around. The ninja searched wildly for cover then made a reckless dash for a maintenance ladder that led down to a lower level. The whole way, his legs twitched and wracked, nerves misfiring, muscles seizing, unable to muster any of the coordination he'd trained years to develop, as one tentacle snared him by the ankle and another his upper arm and dug in with hook-like barbs.

Pain assailed the teenager while he struggled to free himself and resorted again to his senbon. Taking three in his free hand, he drew back to stab away at his entanglement when the tentacles suddenly withdrew, having frozen and broken off where they touched him. Diverting what little chakra he had to slow the bleeding, he pulled the fragments from his body then looked up in shock as more snow began to fall.

_Is this…is this me?_ he wondered and could find no other explanation. Rather than dwelling too long on the question, Haku made for the ladder then half-climbed, half stumbled down most of its length before falling the rest of the way. Gasping, the Demon's Apprentice pushed himself up. His grey eyes flashed over the flat, empty space that awaited him. Though he'd gained some distance, there was no place to hide here, no place to retreat.

Atop the higher roof above and behind him, the demon-starfish gathered itself, rising up and drawing back with its multitude of arms. Thankfully, the beast was delayed as it fended off other demons equally eager to feast on the teenager's slender form. Haku staggered back, senbon in hand, having little idea of what he would or even _could_ do against the monster's next assault.

Once the competition had been beaten back, the demon reared to strike but then lurched as silver blurs flashed suddenly toward it – kunai knives that struck hard and stuck in its armored hide. Haku's eyes went wide then as he saw the exploding tags hanging from their hilts, chakra fuses sputtering down to detonation. The Demon's Apprentice dropped to the ground and covered his head in his arms just in time to feel the concussive shock of multiple explosions wash over him, booms like thunder almost loud enough to cover the demon's bestial, unworldly screech. As the ninja pushed himself up to a crouch, a quick look told him the demon was still there, alive but inconvenienced at the loss of several of its limbs, the parts of which rained down in bloody, jigsaw-puzzle fragments. The demon thrashed in rage then was swallowed up in the blue and white strobe-light pops of flash-bang grenades followed by billows of thick, obscuring smoke from which a pair of Narutos emerged to help a startled Haku to his feet.

"Not surprised, are you?" quipped one with a sarcastic chuckle. "You didn't _really_ think I'd go back to Konoha."

Haku, dazed and astonished, too weakened even to speak, only grit his teeth.

The other Naruto took him by the shoulder. "Hey," he inquired, leaning close and looking past his zodiac mask and into his grey eyes, "are you alright?"

Spasms of pain shot through his body, worrying him not so much because of their intensity as their unfamiliarity – a simultaneously sickening, squirming, pulsing and electric sensation, like so many fuses tripping, resetting and tripping again. The ninja swallowed hard, glad Naruto couldn't fully see his expression, then shook his head.

The blonde's blue eyes widened with concern then settled as he frowned. "Well hang tough," he encouraged in his gravely tenor, "I'm on my way! It's a mess out there but I'll be here in a couple of minutes! Just a couple of minutes! Wait for me and DON'T DIE, ok!?"

Haku and the two Narutos flinched and looked up as the demon flailed through the smoke then dropped down, making the whole structure of the low roof shake and buckle. A good fifth of its body had been blown off, with the writhing mass of tentacles revealing a patch of gory, black viscera and a wet-work of pulsing organs. "Go!" one of the Narutos shouted to Haku. "I'll find you! Trust me!"

The demon surged at them, giving forth with an unidentifiable sound and a storm of grasping, rioting tentacles that sawed both genin in two as they leaped toward it and sent Haku flying back as he tried to retreat. The two clones vanished in bursts of dissipating chakra. The Demon's Apprentice went hard into the parapet that caught him behind the knees and he went tumbling over, grasping for and missing the edge with his outstretched fingers as he started to fall; tentacles hunted for him. Falling again, he looked over his shoulder at the onrushing ground. Above him, relentless, the demon poured over the lip of the building after him. Haku, following a notion, opened his arms, deliberately making himself an easier target as a tentacle lashed around his waist and wrapped around and around in a crushing, inescapable grip.

_For whatever reason, I was still able to use my kekkei-genkai,_ he considered,_ I just hope I still can._

Haku closed his eyes in concentration and the realization came to him - his grandmother and uncle, though they'd never met in person, hadn't wasted their short time together. While a part of his consciousness through the auspices of Lord Hirai's jutsu, they'd left inscribed in his mind an encomium of Aramata Clan knowledge, their history and their techniques which, done properly, were _effortless_ for those who carried the bloodline. As he thought for the one he had in mind, it came. There was even a name: "Ice Release," he remembered, "Kit of Needles."

Braced for the worse, the young ninja couldn't bear to look and only awaited what would happen for good or ill.

All motion slewed to a stop.

The tentacle that held him, cool already, grew colder.

Haku opened his eyes, finding his masked face scant inches away from a circular maw ringed with rotating teeth.

"Splendid," he offered sardonically, coughed at the stench, then looked to the rest of the demon's body which was suspended in place, transfixed completely and from every angle by shafts of glistening ice.

The tentacle that held him grew slack and slowly unwound, spinning Haku around, around and around before depositing him both abruptly and unceremoniously onto the street. There the ninja lay on the cobblestones, dizzy and half-paralyzed. Gradually his senses returned and he could make out the sounds of intense fighting developing nearby – the animalistic and unintelligible utterances of what could only be the 108 Demons along with the crackle of jutsu, the boom of exploding tags and the guttural shouts of men and women…ninja of the hidden-mist.

_I can't stay here, _Zabuza's former student realized calmly and then, to his horror, his mistake. _What was I thinking – wearing THESE clothes: this robe, this mask! I might actually stand a chance if I could pass unrecognized._

A few seconds of fruitless struggle passed before Haku found that he could move again. The teenager experimented, kicking his legs, feebly at first and then stronger until he could half-roll, half-crawl his way out from under the slain starfish-demon's slack, outstretched tentacle. The young ninja slowly made his way to his feet, using a wall to brace himself then attempted to run. An awkward, horrifically-slow hobble on legs that still refused to function and with the more familiar though still hindering pain of broken ribs was the best he could do. Just overhead, the shadows of five ninjas flashed followed by a looming, much more frightening shape. The battle for Kirigakure which he and the 108 Demon's had started was still well under way.

Haku followed the street which emptied into a square where two, five-man mist-ninja squads were engaged in a furious battle with a four-armed, four-legged, wooden-looking goliath. As the monster smashed a building down onto its enemies, the teenager huddled instinctively and tried to keep out of sight, following close to the walled edge of the square, away from the colossus and into the ruins of a cloister where the fight had already past.

'_Glad I didn't have to fight THAT,_ Haku spared the thought… _and that it can't fly._

Weakly, he staggered on, moving slower and slower, his body running down, mind going dazed. Vowing to rest in the shelter of an arched portico and from there to keep an eye out for the returning Naruto or one of his shadow-clones, the teenager made for it but had to stop halfway. Haku dropped then to his knees, onto his back and from there into darkness.

* * *

This concludes the Part 7 story arc - House of Candlelight. Please return for Part 8 – Hide and Go Seek.

THANKS FOR READING!

Thanks to 'Guest' for pointing out my misspelling of Kisame. Is fixed.

As for other good Haku stories, I'm sorry I can't be of much help. There IS another Broken Tool story by another author which I recall seemed pretty good. Other than that, I'd just check the forums and look for a Haku-centric one. 'Snowman' is one of them. I hope that helps a little!

-Jonohex


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